Blurred Reality
by deppdependant
Summary: VH1 offers a reluctant Criss Angel a Reality Love show and 20 women compete for his attention and heart over the course of 2 months but in the end who will stay and continue through this dramatic blurred reality?
1. Intro

**NOTE: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE CELEBRITIES IN THIS STORY NOR AM I AFFLICATED WITH VH1 OR ANY REALITY SHOW. I DO NOT OWN CRISS ANGEL AND HAVE NO PERSONAL TIES TO HIM OR HIS MANAGEMENT... (ALTHOUGH THAT WOULD BE SWEET, LMAO!) I DO HOWEVER OWN ALL THE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY. PLEASE ENJOY AND IF YOU READ I WOULD LOVE IT IF YOU REVIEWED! THANKS AGAIN!**

**ALWAYS,**

**DEPPDEPENDANT**

* * *

**Blurred Reality**

**You Have No New Matches**

Believe it or not that isn't the first time I've read that.

**You Have 85 New Matches**

_What?! _

I scrolled down the page on my lap top and raised a single eyebrow.

_Skank._ I muttered as I reviewed the dating profile of a seemingly easy women. On to the next.

_Wow… nice tits… are you easy or what?_

_Next._

_No, learn how to spell the word "illusion". _

_Next._

_Hell no!_

_Oh my God…_

"Alright, I'm done. Fuck this." Slamming my lap top shut I stretched my legs out on my bed and reached for my cell phone. I had to call J.D. back about mom. No, correction, I _really _needed to call J.D. back about mom.

"Hey, Bro. Sup?" I responded his sharp 'hello'.

"Hey." J.D. nearly growled into the phone. What was up his ass this morning?

"How's mom doing?" I cut to the chase while I fidgeted around a bit the cord to my laptop.

J.D. was a talker. I should have just called my mom myself, but then again I didn't want to hear another infamous lecture on how I let her down by signing up for another Season of Mindfreak. It's not that she didn't support me in my craft, don't get me wrong. She always backed me up 100% but I think she was just getting tired off me putting her under pressure with my health always being on razor blades.

"She's alright. She just had to follow up with the doctor about her heart. Everything is FINE. Don't stress out. They gave her a perfectly clean bill." J.D. replied.

My phone beeped informing me that I had another call.

"Hey, let me call you back. I've got someone on the other line." I clicked over.

"Hello?"

"Criss?" I knew the voice the moment it reached my eardrum. In a way I almost wished I didn't recognize it.

"What's going on Mark?" I questioned trying not to pick up my brothers agitated tone.

"VH1 called me today and they wanted me to bring up an offer to you. It might sound ridiculous but in the long run I think it will help your career and possibly your love life?" Mark began to explain.

I cleared my throat. "Love life? What is this some bullshit reality gig?"

Mark chuckled so hard I had to pull my cell phone away from my ear. "Actually…"

"There's no way in hell!" I shock my head as I flipped my laptop open again.

Mark continued to stammer on and on about monetary figures that VH1 would supposedly contribute to my bank and the time length of the show. I let him talk himself blue and kept muttering over and over that it was an outrageous idea until I read:

_**FUCK YOU, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! CRISS ANGEL WOULD NEVER BE ON EHARMONY, GET FUCKED YOU SICK BASTARD!**_

"Hey Mark," I sighed.

"So I'm not talking to a wall?" He laughed.

"I'll do it." I groaned. "But these girls are getting STD checked. I've watched Flavor of Love."


	2. Read Between The Lines

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 2**

**~*Read Between the Lines*~**

* * *

I hate Sundays. Honestly, they are by far the worst day of the week. I don't understand why everyone has the whole sinister outlook towards Monday. If you really stop and think about it all you are doing on Sunday is dreading Monday so therefore there went your entire day thinking about how awful and long the next day is going to be. Anyway, it was Sunday.

A bright and sunny Sunday that clashed with mood. My small town in Indiana was going through a summer heat wave that was spread across the entire Midwest and no matter how high I had the air-conditioning cranked I still thought I was going to die of heat exhaustion. That's another thing I hate, the summer. Maybe hate is too strong of a word… I suppose dislike is better. I DISLIKE both Sunday's and Summer but most of all I dislike being single. I was finding that out rather quickly as I sat on the couch and watched the Notebook on Lifetime. It had been 2 years since my last relationship ended. I wasn't sure if I was getting pickier or more desperate but one thing was for sure if I didn't find a boyfriend this summer I was going to go insane. The T.V. drowned out with my thoughts and I began to become depressed by the two obsessive lovers in the movie so I decided to retire to my computer room.

**YOU HAVE 1 NEW MATCH/1 UNREAD MESSAGE**

I rolled my eyes as I logged into my E-Harmony account.

_Who the hell is this loser? Please don't tell me he's like the last moron I went out to the movies with…_

I scrolled down the page and bugged out my eyes in laughter.

Added onto things I DISLIKE, I dislike posers… This guy had been contacting me E-harmony for a few weeks claiming to be Criss Angel.

The first message I sent him was: _**FUCK YOU, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! CRISS ANGEL WOULD NEVER BE ON EHARMONY, GET FUCKED YOU SICK BASTARD!**_

_You'd think he'd get the hint I wasn't interested?_

I've been a fan of Criss Angel's for years and to blatantly try to use that as an excuse to pick up women is horrible. That just screams rapist or overly obsessed weirdo. However, that did remind me that I needed to update my Criss angel account.

I logged into his site and found a message from the admin Justin. Little did I know that the message would change my living arrangements for 2 months.

The message read as follows:

_**Dear Loyal Melissa,**_

_**We have received your entry to Criss' new show Blurred Reality that is to be aired on VH1. After reviewing your page and taking a consensus vote of fellow Loyal's at www. Crissangel **__**.com**__** you have been chosen as one of the 20 girls to stay in the Luxor suite for a chance to compete and win a lifetime of love. You have 10 days to respond to this message, If you do not this opportunity will expire and you and will be removed from this contest. Our management will try to reach you under your current account information. Please contact us via email and we will give you our staff numbers for further information. Congratulations!**_

_**Justin **_

I didn't remember filling anything out that said something about a reality show… Was this spam?

I checked my whole page over before I replied to the email and sure enough there was in fact a contest for Loyal's to enter and vote on other Loyal's to be in the show. I hadn't been on the website in a good month or so. I nearly pissed myself. Maybe this was true… maybe I was going to meet Criss Angel? Maybe I was going to Vegas and stay in a tricked out hotel and have a chance to fall in love? I replied back to the admin Justin and asked for the information about the staff. In the mean time I read the message from the poser Criss Angel on E-Harmony that said: _**SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO READ BETWEEN THE LINES IN ORDER TO FIND OUT WHAT IS REAL AND WHAT IS A LIE.**_

This guy was a few screws loose, obviously. I went to delete him as a possible match but all it came back with was: _E-Harmony user account has been deleted_.


	3. More Than Enough Room

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 3**

**~*More Than Enough Room*~**

I really didn't want to do this. My outlook on Reality T.V. is basically that it is nothing but a bold face lie. Reality usually does not involve a bunch of women chasing after a 40 year old male and getting trashed beyond reason. Then again, we were in Vegas. To be honest I had no intentions of really finding my "soul mate" through VH1 trying to strike it big off of my silhouette and some more implanted half nude, ex strippers. How Mark even talked me into this one, I don't know. I guess I was somewhat hopeful that the women coming to the Luxor weren't all like the one's I'd vaguely seen on T.V. re-runs. My ego and my heart couldn't handle another crash and burn. At 41 I had endless career goals that I had mastered and awards that I had never dreamed I would receive. That was all amazing but when it came down to it my biological time clock was ticking in the sense that it was time to settle down and find the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I was divorced, childless and if my luck continued I'd be 85 before I actually slowed down enough in my career to have an opportunity to seriously date again. Maybe this show is what I really need? Maybe I did need to spend some more time for myself and concentrate on what I needed for a change? If they really were all ex-stripping, still married, STD broads then I could just carry on with my life and say "fuck it".

I walked down the hallway of the Luxor lobby and took a seat down on the ledge of a large Egyptian themed fountain. The producer was suppose to meet me there in 15 minutes. The show was actually going to start airing that afternoon. To be upright: I was nervous as all hell. I tugged at a thread on the ripped knee of my jeans. The thread wound its way around my pointer finger so tight it was cutting off my circulation.

"Hey, Criss." A short man with dark hair approached me at the back of the fountain where I was hidden.

"My name is Cris Abrego." He held out his hand and it took me a second to rip the thread off of my finger.

"Nice to finally meet you." I replied with a smile.

He took a seat on the fountain and shifted his eyes towards a group of girls walking past us.

_Thank God they didn't see me. I wasn't in the mood for pictures._

"So, we have arranged for the girls to come in the Lobby entrance and be escorted to their suites on level 30 the same floor that you are being moved to for this show. The whole floor is strictly cut off for this filming. The Luxor is not allowing anyone up onto that floor without a pass." Cris Explained to me.

"Alright. Sounds like a good arrangement." I picked over the loose thread again.

"Tonight you and the girls are going to meet in the Cirque Theater, where you will learn more about them and then later on this evening you are going to the Cat House. Correct?" He questioned.

I shrugged. "Sounds right. I wrote out a lot of things for us to do. I just wasn't too sure how you were going to arrange them or what have you?"

Cris nodded slowly. "If there is anything you would ever like to change let us know. After all this is YOUR show. We are only the ones that film it."

_Hmmm… my show?_

_

* * *

_

The plan ride from hillbilly-ville Indiana to Las Vegas was mediocre but my ears where still left popping when I got off. A limo drove me over to the Luxor and I wasn't too sure if the girl next to me was going to be in the same show or not but in way I was crossing my fingers that she wasn't. She had long dark black hair and piercing green eyes that made me want to commit suicide for even thinking I was somewhat pretty. She was just drop dead gorgeous. The whole ride there she chatted on her cell phone quietly while I attempted not to envy over her perfect figure.

I really hoped that this all wasn't just a scam. I had left my job behind. I tried to take a paid weeks vacation but they said that I couldn't take it for another 3 months. Currently, I was a Licensed Nurse Practitioner and was working at a mental health clinic about a half hour away from my town. Well, by the sound of things maybe when I got back I wouldn't be working there anymore. Oh well, my boss was an asshole and I really did need to find a higher paying job.

Sure enough the black haired beauty got off at the Luxor with me and followed me to the front desk. She finally ended her call and wheeled her suitcase in front of mine. The lady at the desk at for her name and suite information.

"Adriana Pasley. I'm here for the show 'Blurred Reality'."

_There went my chance and my job…_

The lady handed us both passes that had a signature CA logo on it with a black background and room key to match. We were told to take an East tower Elevator to floor 30 and find our room number. My number was 3003. Adriana's was 3005.

"This place is amazing!" I commented while we were in the elevator.

Adriana shrugged. "I've been here so many times it's getting old."

"You've been here before?" I raised an eyebrow.

She slid her card in the Elevator again and pressed floor 30. "Yeah. I've been here God knows how many times. I used to come for vacation a lot. I'm from California. What's your name?"

I smiled briefly as the door opened.

"I'm Melissa."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Adriana. I'll see you around." She walked effortless into her suite.

I on the other hand hemmed and hawed to find mine.

When I did I noticed that there were 2 beds. That meant that I was going to be sharing a room with someone?

Before I could even set my purse down I heard the door open and I jumped back a bit startled.

"Hey! I knew it! I knew we were doing some kinda sharing room bullshit!" A tall thin blonde headed girl exclaimed in the most high pitched voice I had ever heard in my life.

"Yeah… sharing rooms…" I muttered as I watched her toss her two large suite cases and three carryon's on the bed closest to the window.

I guess my bed situation was solved.

"I fucking LOVE your hair!" She shouted excitedly as she came up and reached out to run a hand through my locks.

"Amazing. The two blondes in the same room. We'll call this room- the Bloom Room… get it?" She laughed as she headed towards to the bathroom with a tube of lip gloss in her hand.

I forced out a small giggle and leaned on the bathroom entry. "I'm Melissa by the way…"

She perked her lips out and kissed at herself in the mirror. "Sorry, I'm Kelly. I tend to have a bubbly personality. I hope you don't mind?"

I shook my head. "Oh no, better that than being shitty all the time."

"TOTALLY!" She pursed her lips again and then stepped away from the mirror.

_Please end this now… Please, just kill me now…_

* * *

_1. Tamera _

_2. Samantha _

_3. Kelly_

_4. Michelle_

_5. Caitlyn _

_6. Melissa _

_7. Jackie_

_8. Theresa_

_9. Rachel _

_10. Lisa, _

_11. Emily_

_12. Krystal_

_13. Brittney_

_14. Mary_

_15. Amelia_

_16. Adriana_

_17. Lauren_

_18. Andrea_

_19. Cassie_

_20. Shauna _

I sat inside of my suite and read over the names of the girls on a list that Cris had provided for me. I had asked him for one so that I could memorizing their names ahead of time. I didn't want to do any of that nickname bullshit. I made sure that during casting no girls name would repeat twice so I wouldn't have to. I hoped to God they didn't all look the same or least they would all have a certain quality that I could associate with their name. I decided that I would meet them in the theater at 4pm. I hoped it was going to go alright. I wanted this challenge to be one were I could easily weed out the overly obsessed Loyal's from the ones who were actually here for shot at love and not just a chance to meet someone "famous".

When I entered the theater the girls were all sitting in the front row. Some I knew at first glance that I was physically attracted to them and others… well, others…

"Does this shirt make me look fat?" A red headed girl questioned to the brunette beside her who was already holding a nearly empty ½ yard of a pina colada.

"No girl, but those jeans make your ass look huge!" A blonde shot from across the room and the red head stood up in defense.

"Hey, all of you! Shut the fuck up! Criss just came out on stage you bitches!" A women stood up and pointed at me from the end of the row.

"Hey, Criss! Come to the Bloom Room!" Another blonde busted out of nowhere before I could speak and the girl sitting next her elbowed her with a look of disgust.

_This was obviously going to be a long two months in Vegas. _


	4. The Less You Know, The Better

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 4**

**The Less You Know, The Better**

"Hey girls. First off welcome to Vegas and my current home, the Luxor. I hope everyone has had a good a flight and a found their rooms alright so far-" Criss paced the stage of the theater and I struggled to hear him as Kelly chatted to the girl beside her about some kind of bar that they "HAD to hit up before the night was over" or they would become total "losers".

He took a seat on the edge of the stage and let his legs dangle inches below me. He was absolutely amazing. I had always known he was attractive but that wasn't only the reason I was a "Loyal" fan. I guess seeing him in the flesh really hit me a lot harder than I thought it would because when I went to brush a fallen hair from my side bangs I realized that my hand was shaking.

"I want you all to know that I honestly am here to find love. I'm not going to deal with any shit or unnecessary drama. If you are not here for me then you can just leave right now and I will not be offended."

I was stunned by his bluntness but when I took a look around the room I could tell why he had just come out and said what was on his mind. More than half of these women looked more like they should be here for stripped auditions. I think I had more clothes on than 5 of them put together and I was simply wearing a pair of jean shorts and a halter top with matching flip flops. I'm surprised some of them didn't just walk around with nipple pasties and a thong.

"First off, as you already know, this show is called Blurred Reality. I came up with that name because I am constantly dealing with the lines of what is real and what is all an illusion and in time I've learned that you have to do the same with love and relationships. Sometimes what you see isn't always what you can get and the person you fall in love with isn't always who you once thought they were. Through out these next 2 months I want to get know you all and test our compatibly with one another. If you make it through my challenges and eliminations then maybe you can have a chance to live in a world were reality isn't always what is seems." Criss glanced around the room and narrowed his eyes on a girl who was French braiding another's hair.

He took in a deep breath and continued. "First off, I know that you all signed up on my website and most of you are Loyal's which I appreciate whole heartedly. However there is a fine line between obsessed and casually being a fan and just wanting to be on T.V.. So this first challenge is for me to get to not only learn more about you but for me to find out just how much you know about me." He stood up and out of the corner of stage the VH1 crew wheeled out two chairs and they handed Criss a yellow notebook.

"First I need Tamera and Samantha to come up here." He signaled towards the empty metal chairs and the two red haired girls out of us 20 came marching up on the stage.

Tamera was shorter that Samantha and had the most beautiful half African American and Caucasian skin I had ever seen. She was flawless. Her brown eyes were dark as milk chocolate and she had the coolest Mohawk on a women that made her seem like some kind of an action hero. Samantha was plain, plain as snow. Her outfit was plain. Her facial expression was plain. Why I can't find another adjective to describe her I don't know but that's all I could make of that women the moment I saw her. She reminded me of a glass of water without ice. The only thing that stuck out was her fire engine red hair that was cut into a layered bob.

Criss had the two girl take a seat on the chairs and began asking them questions about himself. I thought this was an odd way to start the day. Somewhat narcissistic in a way.

"Okay, first off. What show do I star in and produce?" Criss started.

"Easy, MindFreak!" Tamera answered quickly.

"No shit!" A brunette at the end of my row hollered.

Criss laughed and continued. "Alright, what is my full name?"

Either one of the girls could answer but I suppose the object was to answer before the other.

"Christopher Anthony Sarantakos." Samantha chimed as she picked at her thumb nail.

Criss nodded. "That's correct. Next, where was I born?"

"California?" Tamera bit her bottom lip in a question and Samantha giggled.

"No, nice try. Samantha?" He turned to look at her and she smiled widely.

"Long Island, New York."

He nodded. "Alright, Time to switch. Melissa, come up here and join Samantha. Tamera sweetie, go back down and join the rest of them girls."

Tamera winked as she brushed passed Criss and hopped off the stage.

I climbed up the stairs and took a seat on the metal chair.

"Nice to meet you Melissa." Criss gave me a hug and two side kisses on my cheeks.

"You too." I giggled a bit and fussed with my bangs again, this time conscious of my shaking hand.

"Next question, what is the name of my cat that has been involved in card tricks on Mindfreak?"

That was so simple.

"Hammy." I blurted.

"Correct." He flipped a page in the note book and Samantha groaned.

The questions continued and Samantha seemed to tie me at each one. I was getting outraged. Who was she, how did she know EVERYTHING? The girls in the room were shocked and kept rooting for us to fight.

_Fight?_

_Grow up…_

"Alright, here's one that one of you will and one of you probably won't know…" Criss tapped his foot.

"What was the name of the band I started with Celldweller?"

I knew this one. I knew the answer was Angel Dust. But it just dawned on me, I didn't want to go home because I was overly "obsessed".

"Angel Dust." Samantha answered.

Criss looked shocked and nodded. "Alright, Melissa go take a seat and next up is Kelly."

_Oh God, just end this game now. She certainly was just her for fame._

_

* * *

_

I knew I had seen that girl Melissa from somewhere. I just couldn't pin point it. Her medium layered blonde hair and piercing blue eyes flattered her pale oval face so well. It had been a long time since I had seen a smile so genuine, but I knew that I had seen it before. She seemed real enough to me, her body wasn't plastically enhanced or painted up so much like half of other the girls that I could tell she was at least born naturally as a women. Samantha, she was odd. Her eyes seemed to tell a story that I didn't want to know. Maybe that's why she was so bland because her eyes were as multicolored as a kaleidoscope with raw emotion. Tamera, she was just hot as hell to put it bluntly. I didn't care how much she knew or didn't know about me at this point. I'd keep her around for awhile.

The other girls came up and I rattled off my boring autobiographical questions but Samantha was left undefeated. This frightened me. I even started to adlib questions because I had run out of ones that were written down for her to answer. She even knew my favorite food, song and how old I was when I won my first award in Magic. It was official, she was my ultimate stalker. This girl was frightening.

After my notebook session I hauled the girls and the ever present camera crew to the Cat House of some drinks. The bar was nice enough to shut down for me so the girls and I would have enough room and some alone time to mingle and get to know each other better. Adriana approached me first on the leather couch as I the waitress was delivering my beer.

"I just want to tell you that I'm so happy to be here. Truly, I am." She stated as she took a seat next me and laid her hand on my knee.

I smiled after I handed the waitress her tip.

"I'm happy to have you. So please, tell me more about yourself…"

She flipped her long straight black hair behind her shoulder and a trail of the sweetest perfume flew past me.

"I'm 28. I have large goals. I want to be a singer, but that doesn't mean I'm here for fame. I've always wanted to do that ever since I was younger. I write my own lyrics and I play the electric guitar. I guess that doesn't bring in a lot of money, you know… having goals that are unrealistic. So currently I am a receptionist at a tattoo shop during the night and during the day I work at as a waitress." She explained.

"Well, it is always good to have higher goals and I think that it is great that you understand that it isn't all just going to happen over night." I replied as I tried to search her body for tattoos.

She nodded as she took a drink of her long island ice tea.

"Do you have any tattoos?" I questioned after not noticing any that were apparent.

"I do, I have 9." She smiled widely.

_Nine, where the hell where they?_

"Nice, where are they at?" My eyebrow raised with curiosity.

"Someday I'll show you… maybe." She winked as she ran her hand further up my knee causing me to nearly choke on my beer.

Thank God Theresa walked up behind me and interrupted us before things turned into a different direction.

"Hey, can I steal him for a second?" She asked Adriana as she tugged on the back of my necklace.

_If Adriana's comment wasn't going to make me choke this girl certain was._

"Sure, he's all yours." Adriana shrugged and patted my leg one more time before she stood up and headed towards a group of 5 other girls that were chatting in a corner of the room.

Theresa let go of my necklace and sat on the arm rest of the couch that was closest to me. To be fully honest, I hardly remembered that this girl was even there until she forcefully tugged on my chain.

"What's up?" I curled my body closer to hers and glanced up into her hazel eyes.

"I really think you're amazing. I totally LOVE your show. You know, I've seen your believe show 5 times."

I shut my eyes and drew in a deep breath.

"Really? That's so sweet of you…"

_Sweet, that was kind of a little … much. _Currently, my Believe show was being put on hiatus for this Reality gig as well as Season 5 of MindFreak and so far these girls weren't giving me any proof that it was worth my time.

"I hope you don't think that's crazy or anything. I just really have always admired you and your talents. I love the way you are with kids as well."

I set my beer down and scanned her over. She was a good looking girl but not really my type. She had the body structure of an athlete or a dancer so I figured I could strike up a conversation with that.

"What are your hobbies besides seeing Believe every other weekend?" I joked.

She grinned as she pulled at her short red skirt. "I like to play volleyball. I'm actually on a casual team back home in Kansas. We like to play a lot when the weather is nicer. I've been playing for 10 years. I started when I was 13." She explained.

_Hmmm… 13. That meant she was 23. Damn, that's young._

"Sounds like a great past time and by the looks of it keep you in a killer shape." I winked.

Theresa blushed and took a sip of her coke.

_Wait, coke?_

"Did you have a drink?" I asked casually.

She shrugged. "Nah, I don't drink. It's against my religion."

I tired not look lost because she was wearing one of the shortest skirts I'd seen in a long time.

"Against your religion?" I retorted.

"Yeah, I think that it brings out the worst in people. I'd rather wind down in a healthy manner than give my liver a dose of hell." Her eyes locked viciously on my beer and I thought for a moment that the glass was going to mysteriously break into pieces by kinetic force.

* * *

This sucked beyond reason. Criss had been bombarded by all the skanky, fake-ass, lip implanted, bimbo's all night and I was left in the corner with some odd gothic girl named Amelia. She was even paler than I was. Her emerald green eyes had to be contacts and her black eyeliner gave me the chills. I USED to be "gothic" until I grew up and realized that the whole outside world thought I was going to be the next suicide bomber. Back when I went to high school we didn't call it gothic though, I was 90's punk. Hardcore 90's punk/grudge at that. This chick just made me laugh with her safety pinned Hello Kitty purse and her humungous wristbands. I wished in a way that I had some of my old 90's clothing stuffed in my luggage so that I could rock her out in a fashion that I understood more. Man, that dated me… I was 29 years old! 29 and single. _Fuck this, seriously. I should be at home with a with a husband and kids by now. This was ridiculous; had my life really gotten this bad that I was on a reality T.V. show? _

Criss took us back into the theater for I suppose what was "Elimination". It was clearly obvious that I was going home. I hadn't even said two words to him at the Cat House and all he knew about me was that I sure knew a hell of a lot about him.

We were told to each file into of row 5 on a set of bleacher like red and black carpeted stairs that were on the right side of the stage. I took my place on the bottom since I was one of the tallest girls and stood myself next to Andrea. All I knew so far about Andrea was that she was really quite and had a good taste in music.

Criss came walking out of the left side of the stage and the camera crew lit up again. He had a giant wooden box (that I guess was usually used for magic props) which was placed to his left. Inside the box were numerous necklaces that looked identical to his signature Criss Angel chain. I guessed that was what we were to receive if we were going to stay in the hotel.

Jackie was teetering back and further and I was surprised her high heels didn't give out from underneath her. She was standing behind me and I could smell the whiskey leaking onto the back of my hair every time she'd exhale. The girl was drunk out of her mind. Lauren and Mary were to the side of her and trying to stable her stance but from the sound of her heels behind me they weren't doing that great of a job.

"I hope everyone had as great of a time tonight as I did." Criss began as he walked closer towards us.

Michelle clapped and shouted from the top row, "It was amazing!"

_Please, like that is going to get you anywhere._

Criss smiled seeming annoyed but still somewhat genuine and continued. "I hate to do this, you all seem like wonderful women and I enjoyed all the of time I have spent with each one of you but I have decided that tonight I am going to cut 5 girls instead of 1."

_What the fuck?! _My heart pounded against my chest and I think it was actually louder than Jackie's drunken hick ups.

A few girls cussed and some glanced around at one another with catty attitudes. I just bit my thumb and prayed that he would notice that there were at least 5 bigger losers in the house than me.

"This first signature is going to go to… Adriana."

My teeth instantly bit harder on my nail. I knew it the moment I came here. I knew she'd win him over with her killer looks. _Bitch._

Adriana strolled up and took the necklace out his hand.

"Will you stay here and continue to live in my Blurred Reality?" Criss questioned.

She nodded as she placed the necklace over her head. "Of course! I'd be a fool if I didn't."

Criss grinned as he pulled her into a tight embrace and Adriana slipped him a quick kiss on the neck.

_Egh, total bitch._

Criss stood up straighter as he watched Adriana replace herself back into her position next to us 20.

"Alright, this one is for you, you crazy girl… he shot a glace over at Kelly."

_KELLY!_

She was the dumbest thing I have ever seen, come on "Bloom Room?" He was kidding right?

Eventually all that was left standing was me, Samantha, Theresa, Mary, Michelle and Jackie.

Criss looked us over and reached out for his last necklace a bit hesitantly.

"Melissa." He called.

It took me a second to let the sound of his voice register and when it did I walked up to him with a hint of anger in my eyes.

I was pissed, surely I was better than being the last girl picked. I wasn't going to stay here and battle it out with these horrific creatures called women if I wasn't, I did have a life outside of his "Reality" show.

"Woul-" Criss began but I rudely cut him off.

"Would you?" I placed my hands on my hips and shot him a glare.

Criss narrowed his eyes at me and drew in a sharp breath. "Excuse me?"

"Would you really like me to stay here or not?" I continued.

"Send the bitch home she doesn't want to be here! She told me that at the bar!" Michelle shouted as Jackie waved her drunken hands in the air signaling that a fight was approaching.

I spun around shocked. "I never said that…"

"Whatever, you probably know how many times the man shit's a day!" Mary chimed in boldly.

_Okay, this was way out of control…_

Balling my fists up I turned back to Criss and attempted to ignore their immature and outlandish comments.

He looked outraged.

"I think you need to work on coming out of your shell more but I would like to keep you here, yes. So the offer stands if you are interested." He held the necklace out and I grabbed it swiftly.

The girls all shot me a disgusted glance and Criss calmed them down before Michelle swung me a blow to my jaw that probably would have knocked me into the magic box.

**PLEASE NOTE: IT HAS BEEN RECENTLY BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION BY A READER THAT IN BOTH MY STORIES (LUCKY 13 AND BLURRED REALITY) THAT I HAVE _"GOTTEN CRISS' MIDDLE NAME WRONG"... _THAT IS NOT CORRECT, I DO IN FACT KNOW THAT HIS TRUE MIDDLE IS NICHOLAS... HOWEVER FOR FANFICION AND FICTIONAL PURPOSE I HAVE MADE HIS CHARACTER HAVE THE MIDDLE NAME OF ANTHONY... I AM SORRY IF THIS HAS MADE ANYONE CONFUSSED OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT. USUALLY I AM NOT COMFORTABLE WITH WRITING NON-MOVIE CHARACTER FANFICTIONS SO I DECIDED TO MAKE A SLIGHT CHANGE IN HIS NAME. THAT'S ALL. LOL! SO I AM TIRED OF GETTING FLAMES ABOUT IT. I DID IT ON PURPOSE!!! ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR READING!**

**_THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOU COMMENTS/REVIEWS SO FAR! I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN WRITING THIS STORY!_**

**_ALWAYS,_**

**_DEPPDEPENDANT_**


	5. Mix and Match

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 5**

**Mix and Match**

Now that I had just gotten rid of 5 girls I felt a little more positive that I was on the right track. I headed back to my suite and went to call it night but the camera crew had other intentions. They wanted my "opinion" as to why I let the girls I had go home. This whole show was getting under my skin much faster than I thought it would but I replied with my only logical answer.

"I didn't think that any of them were compatible for me and a few of them I don't even think knew why they were even here."

The camera finally disappeared when I shut the bedroom door of my suite and I let out a loud sigh. I couldn't image what the girls were going through, the camera's never left their rooms at all. I climbed into bed and concentrated on whether or not my choice of even agreeing to do the show was worth it again. Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't. Only time could prove that and I shut off my light thinking about Melissa. _Where did I know her from? Why did she throw a near menopausal fit when she was last one called? What if she was the only here that really gave damn?_

* * *

Kelly snored. She snored louder than a construction workers concrete drill on a hot summers day. I wanted to rip her larynx out and fry it on my flat iron. This place was slowly turning me into the next psychopath. The girls that had nearly attacked me were escorted off the theater by VH1 security guards and taken off Luxor property where they had to do the rest of their post interviewing. At the end of the elimination Criss had us all hand him back our necklaces, I guess that was so that they could be provided for the next time we all went on matchmakers "Death Row". I couldn't believe him, choosing me last.

"_You need to come out of your shell more" _or whatever the hell he said. That was hard to do when 19 (now 14) other girls were shoving their tits in his face! Maybe I was better off just dating that one loser poser Criss Angel off of E-Harmony, because obviously I wasn't striking it too big with the real one…

The next morning I woke up to a once again bubbly and giddy Kelly. She was bouncing off the walls about this, that and the other while she held an open envelope in her hand.

"What's all the noise about?" I groaned as I beat my fist against my pillow.

Kelly flashed the red envelope in front of my face. "Criss informed us that we are going to something called a mixer… whatever that is-"

"A mixer is where you meet new people." I sat up and attempted to snatch the note from her.

_This chick got picked second and she didn't even know what a mixer was?_

I got ready after I had read over the details of the note that Criss had sent. It informed us that we were to meet him in the Luxor pool area and that we were in fact having a "mixer" and to _dress to impress_. I showered and threw on a flattering sundress and a matching pair of flats with my bathing suit underneath it. I wasn't too sure what his idea of dress to impress meant if we were meeting at the Luxor pool. I suppose it meant that he wasn't too keen on the girls having their breasts hanging out like they were in a cheap porno last night. Kelly and I rode the elevator down and saw Tamera already standing in lobby with Caitlyn and Cassie. They looked decent enough today and were wearing nearly the same outfit, a bathing suit top and a pair of jean shorts with high heels. Although, I wasn't sure I would call that too impressive.

"Hey, we were informed to put our card in the door and head on in." Tamera pointed down the hall as a group of tourist eyed the camera crew and waved rather obnoxiously.

We all walked toward the pool and Caitlyn slipped her key inside. When we arrived towards the poolside we noticed an array of billowed palm trees and large glass tables with straw like umbrella's that welcomed us. Criss was seated at a center table and was wearing a pair of over sized sunglasses and a black shorts with a white wife beater and a crazy skulled bandana.

_Damn, he looked sexy… _

The large pool and poolside was barren beside us 14 and Criss.

"Hey girls, today I wanted you all to meet a few people that are really close to me. Come on out guys!" Criss stood up and the door behind us opened again. Carrot Top, Sully Erna from Godsmack, and Criss's two brothers Costa and J.D. came walking out. Carrot Top was holding a tray of shots and Sully had a two large cases of beer.

"Let's get this party started!" Carrot Top shouted as he shot me a crooked glance. The girls went wild and I clapped. Sudden the rest of the afternoon looked like it was going to get blurry from there.

* * *

If anything these guys would see through any put on persona. They were like my other half. I sat back for awhile sipping on a cold beer and watched the girls try to impress them. It was cracking me up how desperate a few of them were. The one that was blowing her own ship out of the water was Rachel. She kept on bragging about her supposed modeling contract with Gucci. If it wasn't for her oversized birthmark on her cheek I might have bought it. It wasn't that I was being judgmental of her appearance, I just knew that Gucci would have been.

"And I was thinking about auditioning for Top Model… but why when this offer just basically fell into my lap!" She flipped her short highlighted hair behind her ear as she flashed a smile my brothers way.

_He wasn't buying it either. _

"So, Tamera…" Costa shifted his eyes away from Rachel making an attempt to end their now 15 minuet conversation.

A cool breeze moved along my back and when I looked up I noticed Melissa was making her way to sit down next to me.

"Hey, there's no reason for you to be sitting all alone." She grinned as she set her beer down on the glass patio table.

I shrugged and return her smile. "You look nice today by the way."

"Thanks. I wasn't too sure what dress to impress meant, you're lucky I didn't wear my old prom dress." She joked and crossed her legs to reveal a small tattoo that was wrapped around her right ankle. It was of a single feather and delicate words that read: Dream The Impossible.

I liked that. _I liked that a lot. _

"Are you enjoying your stay?" I questioned casually.

"I am. I could have a different room mate, I mean… well, you understand." She picked at the bottom of her sundress.

"They are a little hard to get used to."

_Why was this girl making me so nervous? _

What felt like a thousand acid winged butterflies fluttered against the walls of my stomach as I starred into her light green eyes. I shifted in my chair a bit and looked away trying to make the imaginary insects calm down.

"Criss I wanted to tell you that-" She began but Kelly ran up into between us and sat on my lap before I had any time to register what was happening.

"Hey handsome!" She grinned and placed a soft kiss on my cheek.

"Hey, babe." I winked.

_Damn, her bikini top to hell_… I swore she was wearing it just to forsake my manhood.

The mixer was going just as I planned. Carrot Top and Kelly ended up joking around and really hitting off. Sully told me that he enjoyed most of the girls beside Rachel and Amelia. Costa and J.D. gave me the same report. I really didn't know the girls that well yet, but I knew Rachel more than Amelia. Although, what I did know about Rachel from today was rubbing me the wrong way. Amelia was just too quiet. She didn't seem to really care if she was here or not here. The guys also concluded that the girl who impressed them the most was Shauna. I was a little taken back by that considering the fact that the night before she hardly said one word to me. I planned that I would take the most "impressive" girl out to dinner for some more one-on-one time after the mixer. To be honest, I was hoping to would be Melissa so I could prove to myself that the butterflies weren't real.


	6. Cash Out Your Hate

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap.6**

**~*Cash Out Your Hate*~**

In all respects, I couldn't believe that Shauna had won. Criss said that he was going to be taking her out to dinner at Caesar's Palace. I just didn't think that she could have opened up enough to win something like this but I guess I had been wrong. The rest of the girls and I headed back inside the hotel while Shauna probably contemplated over what kind of all black outfit she should wear. Later that night Kelly, Rachel, Tamera, Adriana and I decided to head off and check out the rest of the hotel. The Luxor was amazing. It was all Egyptian themed with marble like tan flooring and hieroglyphic decorated walls and elevators. Every where we went there were promos and adds for Criss Angel's Believe show (even though it was on temporary hiatus) and too many memorabilia items of his too count. I think my favorite were his Big Bear Choppers lined outside of his Official Mindfreak store. Adriana gasped as we came to the large casino area and reached into her oversized zebra print purse for her wallet.

"I HAVE to take a stab at the nickel slots!" She exclaimed to Tamera.

They both ran over to nickel slots with most extreme flashing red lights that read: LUCKY CHERRY SLOTS

Kelly, Rachel and I headed over a small bar called Flight and ordered a round of Vegas Bombs. I wasn't too big on those shots but they were festive for the occasion.

"Cheers girls!" Rachel toasted.

"To Vegas!" Kelly giggled as she held her shot glass higher. Her tight pink shirt raising to expose her belly button ring.

"To love." I added with a smile.

We downed out shots back and Rachel handed the corseted bartender another fifty dollars.

"Excuse me, can we each have three margaritas?" She questioned sweetly to the thin woman.

"Would you like to start a tab?" She asked as she glanced around at us and our empty shots.

"Sure, do you want my card?" Rachel reached into her purse again.

The woman shook her head. "No hun, what is your room number we'll put it on your room charge?"

Kelly's eyes grew large and the camera crew moved in closer.

_I was starting to forget they were even here._

"It's 3005, it may not have a charge…" Rachel grew anxious with one hand still wedged inside her purse.

The bartender seemed to know something we didn't and replied, "You're on the house."

"Fuck yes!" Kelly cheered. "I want two margaritas and a fuckin' beer!"

The bartender just chuckled and disappeared to get our drinks.

"HOLY SHIT!" Tamera yelled as she ran up into the bar entrance holding a cash out ticket in her hand with Adriana following close behind her.

"You would believe this, I just won a hundred dollars!"

"You bitch! That was my nickel! My fucking nickel!" Adriana narrowed her eyebrows at her.

"A hundred dollars!" Rachel stated. "That's awesome! Way to go girl!"

"Good job!" I smiled as I watched Adriana fold her arms against her chest and mutter something negative under her breath.

"My nickel, you asked if you could borrow it for one more try because you had NO luck… and this is what you got, I should get half!" She carried on.

Tamera rolled her eyes. "Don't be a sore loser!"

"This is bullshit!" Adriana drew in a deep breath.

The waitress set down our drinks on the bar and right as I was about to pick mine up Adriana snatched it from my hands.

"FUCKING BULLSHIT!" She flung my margarita towards Tamera but she dunked and it knocked Rachel in the chest.

Adriana stormed off nearly bumping into the camera crew.

"You bitch! This is a new shirt!" Rachel fumed as Tamera chased after her in a outrage.

Kelly took a long drink of her margarita and sighed. "I'm totally drinking two of these and that beer…"

"I think I might just join you." I replied.

* * *

"Do you like Korn? I freakin' love Korn." Shauna questioned as she sipped on her remaining wine.

I nodded. "I do, I like them a lot. I've had the chance to work with Jonathon Davis, he's an amazing artist."

She grinned. "I thought he would be cool in real life. I also like Disturbed, Static X, Mindless Self Indugence-"

This girl could rattle bands as if they were numbers. She even knew bands that were classic, _like me_?

"No one can be as good as the old 80's death metal, like Ozzy and Alice Cooper. Even T-Rex." She ranted as if she had prove to me like they were still _worth _listening to.

I wondered, _did she really know how old I was_?

"So Shauna, besides the two of us both having an uncanny taste for music, tell me why did you join this show?"

Her deep green eyes gazed into mine as she bit down on her bottom lip.

"I'm lonely. Honestly. I'm 26 years old and I'm a photographer. I live at home with a dog and I'm self employed but I stay super busy with my photo shoots. I guess its time for me to spend sometime on myself and get know myself better. I want to fall in love and I needed a vacation."

I nodded. "I understand. Sometimes when you are so caught up in work and other necessities of life you don't ever pay attention to the things that matter the most. I believe that the most important elements to being a 'whole' person are health, happiness and love and a lot of times we all seem to neglect those aspects of life for various reasons."

Shauna listened to me continue while she twirled a piece of long black hair around her pointer finger. She was different looking. Different in a unique and alluring way. Her eyeliner reminded me of mine in the 80's (which is a REALLY sad confession) but her lips… they entranced me. I'm not too sure if it was because they were brilliantly ruby red against her white as snow skin or the fact that they were so perfectly sized with her other facial features. It didn't matter, I just wanted to kiss this girl so hard that she'd finally shut up about music.

"Criss, did you hear what all said?" Shauna's giggle interrupted my mind of its not so innocent thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm sorry…" Snapping out of it I stood up and walked to her chair.

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah, but I asked you if you liked Seether?" She raised an eyebrow as she searched for her crazy Hello Kitty purse.

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore. I was kissing her it was offical…

~*~

When I approached the stage for the elimination ceremony a few of the girls looked a mess. The entire room reeked of alcohol, cigarette smoke, cheap perfume and if I'm not mistaken, hairspray. Adriana was bickering with Tamera about something and Rachel looked like she was about to commit first degree murder. Melissa stood quietly on the end of the top row with her arms crossed and had her eyes shut. What the hell was everyone's issue? The only girl who looked half way decent was Shauna. She was starring at me and kept sending me small giggles. Her large smile must have been about my spur of the moment kiss and her safety pin jabbing me in the leg… _whatever, it was still hot as hell_.

"Girls," I started but Tamera interrupted me with a loud insult at Adrianna.

"Fuck you bitch! It's all your fault Rachel hates me now!"

Adrianna flipped her the bird. "Hates you, bitch please. Everyone hates you! You've been fake since day one, look at your nasty ass!"

"What the hell is going on here!" I yelled and everyone grew silent.

My heart sped for a moment. I wasn't sure if I had overacted or not but this was out of control.

"That bitch stole my nickel and-" Adriana began but Tamera cut her off.

"Grow up!" She rolled her eyes.

Rachel laughed and Melissa finally uncrossed her arms.

"Do you know what happened Melissa?" I asked with a sigh.

Her eyes found mine through the crowd of girls and she hesitated for a moment as Adriana, Rachel and Tamera all glared over in her direction.

"I do. It's just childish." She muttered.

Tapping my foot I replied, "Do you think I need to base elimination up any of it?"

She hesitated again and scratched at her wrist. "No, not really. I think we all just need to start focusing on the REAL reason we are here."

I knew she wanted to tell me more than that, I could tell by her tense body language but I think she didn't want the other girls to gang up on her. Hell, I wouldn't either.

"Alright, back to what we started." I reached down for a necklace and called up Shauna. She had won, she deserved it. After all, those lips were delicious.

I called Melissa second. I really wanted to know what was going on with the other girls in the hotel and I had a feeling she would clue me in.

Next came Kelly. To be honest I have no idea why I was attracted to this girl but every time I looked at her she just wowed me. I decided to send Rachel home that night. Not only because she was in the fight but because the guys all said she was a fake. I couldn't handle that. A few of the girls seemed upset in my final decision but in the end I _thought _it was the right choice.


	7. I Need Your Advice, Not Your Whole Blog

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 7**

**~*I Need Your Advice, Not Your Whole Blog*~**

Now that Rachel had gone home we were down to 13 girls, not including myself. I couldn't believe how many people had gone home already. Adriana and Tamera were still going at it as we headed out of elimination and Shauna was giving Criss the strangest stare I had ever seen. I wasn't too sure if she was being flirtatious or if she had a something stuck in her right eye.

"Melissa, can I borrow you for a moment?" Criss questioned as the other girls filed out of the theater.

Amelia shot a glance at me and elbowed Emily in the ribs. I think she whispered something to her before they disappeared out of the stage door but I wasn't positive.

"Yeah, sure." I replied as I watched him take a step closer to me and brush his dark hair out of his eyes.

"I have a few things to ask you and you don't have to answer if you feel uncomfortable." Criss placed a hand into his front jean pocket and swayed a bit.

"_Alright," I must have looked as nervous as I felt because my bottom lip began to uneasily tremble as I spoke._

"_Do you think that I sent the right person home tonight?" He asked quietly._

_It took me a minuet to respond. This time I was conscious of my lips muscle spasm. "No, I don't."_

_His eyes locked into mine and I struggled to find my breath. "I- I think you should have sent Adriana home."_

_He blinked for a long moment and returned, "I appreciate you're input. I trust you know what happened tonight."_

_I just nodded, still recovering from his intense gaze. _

"_I sent Rachel home tonight on other pretenses but as for Adriana and the other girls, I feel like I need to sort through the lies to find out the truth."_

_He paused for a second and added. "You know, read between the lines in order to find out what is real and what is all a lie. Everyone here seems to being putting on a front with me but tonight I didn't get that from you."_

_Why did that sound so familiar? _

_Where had I heard that quote before?_

My eyes squinted as I tried to think and Criss gave me a questionable look.

"I'm sorry, you just said something that sounded familiar, that's all." I smiled and waved for him to continue.

He narrowed his eyebrows. "I guess, I just wanted your opinion that's all. You seem more mature and grounded than half of the other woman here and I value what you have to say."

_Finally, he noticed me! About damn time!_

I leaned my body closer to his on a whim and placed my hand on his shoulder. "Anytime."

He smirked as he wrapped his arm around my waist and placed a kiss on my cheek. "I'll see you bright an early in the morning, we have a big day tomorrow."

"Oh yeah?" I tried to pry as we walked off of the stage arm in arm.

"You'll see." He chuckled as he held the door open for and the camera man.

**

* * *

**

Melissa was a huge help with the other girls. Then again, did I really want to chance sending Adriana or Tamera home? They were the two sexiest girls in the whole house! Maybe Melissa had just said all of that to devise a plan to get them out and beat the tough competition. Girls could be brutal like that. After all, I did have an ex-wife, I should know the tricks of the trade. I sprawled out on my bed and flipped my lap top open. Damn, I had a zillion emails. Hammy jumped up along side of me and stretched his paws out onto my arm.

"I already fed you!" I teased as he meowed up at me with hungry eyes.

"If I give you anymore treats… okay, fine one more."

When I was done checking my email and attending to Hammy I decided to update my website and send my Loyals a message as to how the show was going so far. When I logged in I noticed that Melissa was online.

_Strange. _

I had to check out her profile, it was just too tempting. When the browser loaded I was bombarded with pictures of me, myself and I. There were about 10 pictures of myself that ranged from season 1 to season 4. _I guess she wasn't lying when she said she had been a fan. _Her latest blog was entitled **BEWARE THERE IS A POSER CRISS ANGEL OUT THERE!!!**

_Hmmm… interesting, I always got a kick out of that bullshit._

**Dear fellow _Single_ Loyals, **

**I'm sure a lot of you like myself have submitted your time, energy and trust to dating websites as I have. Well, let me inform you that there is now a poser Criss Angel on E-Harmony. If he does try and contact you please do not give him any information! Beware! As we already know, Criss does not contact Loyals any other way besides this website and his management. As far as I know this account has been closed on E-Harmony. Thank you for reading! **

**Always, **

**Loyal Melissa**

That was all took for me to make the connection. Since day one of the show I had been trying to place where I had known this girl from and after reading her blog it was like my brain literally switched gears. She had been THE match that had motivated me to do the fucking show in the first place! I wasn't sure if I should be angry or proud that she typed out that blog. I wasn't sure if I was happy that she had joined the show or disappointed that she didn't just take my damn word on E-Harmony. I guess I should have just faced the fact before joining the site that I was too big of "celebrity" figure to be taken seriously on a dating site. She was right, even the real me would be thought of as a poser….

I slammed the lap top shut and Hammy placed his ears back at the sudden loud noise. I had enough for one day and the next was only going to be more difficult after reading that.

* * *

I woke up at 6am on the dot to a knock on my door when I opened it Amelia was standing there with huge grin on her still half asleep face.

"We are going on a road trip!" She informed excitedly.

"A road trip, where to?" I questioned.

"I have no idea… he just said to pack for a nights stay and to dress casual. We leave in an hour."

_An hour?_

"Kelly! Wake up!" I yelled as I walked into the bathroom.

_Where were we going. _This was crazy, a road trip. I hope I didn't get stuck in the car with a bunch of girls I couldn't stand. After Kelly and I packed we met down stairs in the lobby with the rest of the girls and noticed a two huge Hummer limos waiting outside for us. Criss was standing by the Luxor doors and he just smiled smoothly.

"Good morning girls! As you all know I'm known for facing my ultimate fears. That's what I did in my suspension demonstration and all of my underwater attempts. I used to have a HUGE fear of needles and blood. Actually, I used to pass out every time I saw anything of the sort. But I decided to overcome my fears and face them head on. So today, we are going to an abandoned insane asylum in California. It is said to have sever paranormal activity and I want to see how you girls will handle spending the night inside. Will you be able to handle the fear of the unknown?"

_Oh my God…_

"Are there beds?" Tamera questioned as she adjusted her purse.

Criss laughed a bit. "You'll see."

"And bathrooms. I need a bathroom." Kelly whined.

Criss shook his head and Shauna clapped loudly. "This is gonna be fuckin' awesome!"

**_THANKS AGAIN FOR REVIEWING! KEEP THEM COMMING HEHE!!!_**

**_ALWAYS _**

**_DEPPEDEPENDANT_**


	8. Flash Light Tag

**Blurred Reality **

**Chap. 8**

**Flash Light Tag**

The abandoned building before me sent shivers down the back of my neck. The 14 of us stood outside of it on a long and narrow gravel driveway and the Californian sun was just setting behind it. I couldn't believe how over grown the weeds and grass was aside of the large 3 story building. It looked like no one had attended to the large lawn in well over a decade.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Adriana muttered as she adjusted her Gucci sunglasses up against the bridge of her nose.

Criss walked in front us and the closer we drew to the asylum the more chatty the girls got.

"What if there are poisonous spiders and shit?!" Amelia squeaked as Criss unlocked the door and stepped inside.

It creaked open slowly and he waved for us to follow. I was the first to step in behind, followed by Shauna and Kelly.

There were no working lights to be found anywhere but Criss handed us each a flash light.

"Alright girls. This is it. I'll be staying here with you don't worry. Make yourselves comfortable because we are spending all night here until sunrise tomorrow morning. There's 5 coolers to the right with a variety of food and drinks. Along side of that are sleeping bags and pillows." He pointed to the middle right side of the barren foyer. I guess where were standing must have once been a lobby of some sort or check in for the hospital because there were still old 1920 style arm chairs and a big office looking desk in the middle of the room with a lamp and a type writer. Book shelves lined most of the walls of the bottom floor and numerous stacks of paper were strewn across the old dusty tiled floor. This didn't look much a mental hospital to me at least not much like the one I had worked in. Shauna and I decided to check out the upstairs while the rest of the girls bitched over sleeping bags and Krystal busied herself with Criss.

"This is neat, what's this for?" Shauna wondered as we entered a room on the second floor.

She held a few ink blots in her hand and a small tool that I recognized from my studies in nursing school.

"That, that's what they used to use on the clinical insane, it was supposed to release brain pressure." The tool she was holding looked nearly identical to a cork screw.

"What did they do with it?" She gasped.

"What do you think?" I laughed as I watched her toss it back on the tin medical tray she found it on.

"That's disgusting! How awful!"

We moved on to the next floor and found nothing but small jail looking cells with tiny yellowed cots and small pots for commodes. This really had been an asylum but it must have been shut down for years. Shauna snooped around and kept on asked me various questions about random ancient medical items she found until she finally inquired how I knew so much. I told her that I was I nurse and currently worked at a mental health hospital. _That only made her question me more._

When we got back downstairs it was past dark and the rest of the girls hadn't moved more than a few feet. I noticed that there were four gas lamps located around the main foyer area where the coolers and the sleeping bags were. The lights made the entire room have an eerie golden hue. Krystal was no longer chatting with Criss instead Amelia was. She was telling him some kind of immature ghost story that involved a "black figure" and a pitch fork. Three other girls were off in a corner snacking on chips and drinking some pop. Adriana was sitting on her sleeping back text messaging with Kelly and the rest were off doing God knows what.

"Hey, Girls… go check out the upstairs!" Shauna shouted as we headed back down the stairs and entered into the main floor. "It's really cool up there!"

Criss smiled our way and I grinned back. I think Shauna was too busy trying to convince Krystal to go back up there with her to notice.

"Come on… Melissa is the perfect tour guide, she knows everything about medical stuff." Shauna insisted to Krystal.

Criss walked our way after excusing himself with Amelia.

"You're in the medical field?" He asked casually, his flashlight pointing upwards.

"I am. I'm a nurse at a mental hospital." I replied trying to sound casual.

"Oh, that's great. I'd love for you to give me a tour?" He hinted that the other girls leave us alone.

"Sure… alright." I swallowed hard as I pointed my flash light towards the stairs and he took hold of my hand.

"So how long have you been a nurse?" He questioned curiously as we made it to the second level and I ducked down to avoid the largest cobweb I had ever seen.

"Roughly 6 years. I just mastered my RN 3 years ago. So I started as an LPN first out of college. I used to work in the ER. That was a difficult job. Too many patients come and go there. I like the mental unit. It give me a chance to reap some rewards and I've always been interested in it." I replied.

Criss opened the door to the surgery room where Melissa had found the awkward brain devise and took a seat on a dusty medical table.

He set his flash light on the opposite side of him and I leaned against the wall.

"Are you alright?" He asked seriously.

I nodded. "I'm fine. I just find it terrible the way that used to practice medicine but I guess without it we wouldn't have the information that we do today."

Criss shook his head in agreement and went to say something but we were both startled by a blood curdling scream.

"What the hell?" He jumped.

"THAT IS SICK!" What sounded like Kelly yelled.

Criss drew in a deep breath and rubbed his temples.

"Are YOU alright?" I laughed.

"Hangin' in there…" He went to stand back up and grab his flash light but I barricaded him.

"You sure?" I whispered as I shut my light off and let it slip down to my side.

Criss smirked and pressed his body closer to mine. He was so close I could feel his belt buckle pressing against my waistline.

"I'm better now…" His flash light clicked off the moment his lips pressed against mine.

Before I even had the chance to respond the door slammed open and Emily came rushing through like a bat out of hell.

"Are you two in here?!" She called in a panic.

Criss held tighter to my hips for a moment and then pulled away before he turned his light back on and shined it toward the doorway.

"What's up Em?" He asked.

"You are NOT going to believe this!"

When we got back down stairs Lisa, Tamera, Lauren and Brittney were all gathered by one of the old arm chairs and Shauna was explaining to them that it "must have been moved by a phantom spirit". Adriana and Kelly were busy trying to a spider out of Krystal's hair. Andrea, Cassie, Amelia and Caitlyn were huddled in a corner chatting about how the chair and spider were all nonsense.

"What is going on?" Criss asked as he followed Emily to _the _chair.

"It just, it just literally moved…" Her eyes bugged into large brown saucers.

He folded his arms against his chest and laughed.

"Who moved it?"

"No one! It moved by itself!" Shauna replied almost sounding as if she was standing up for some unknown cause.

Criss didn't seem like he was buying into it.

"Alright, I know its creepy in here and its getting late but we have a long night ahead of us. So let's try to keep the chair moving to a minimum."

_Or interrupting our kiss for bullshit like this… _

I shot Criss a glance and he rolled his eyes in agreement.

"By the way, you never finished your tour?" He took my hand again and I nearly tripped on the first step out of girlish excitement.


	9. Seeing Isn't Always Believing

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 9**

**~*Seeing Isn't Always Believing*~**

The moment Criss and I reached the third floor I heard what sounded like footsteps following behind us and my heart raced.

Criss spun around and I saw his flash light dance across the brick wall. No one was there which only increased my pulmonary rhythm. My hand instinctively slipped into his as I watched him turn back to face me with a confused look written on his face.

"That was odd." He whispered.

I glanced at the camera man who was on my left side and he raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm… well, on with the tour?" My voice cracked as I pointed over to cells.

Criss ran a hand through his hair as he glanced at the old rooms with a blank stare.

"You're right this is all so disturbing, this whole place has such an aura about it that is so suppressing."

I nodded as I felt his hand hold tighter to mine.

"Tell me do you believe in the supernatural?" I asked as we starred off into one of the old cells.

Criss seemed to hesitate with his answer for a moment. "I think that things which are spiritual exist beyond our imagine, yes. However, I feel that 98% of the time most people underestimate just how powerful their mind is and what images and fabrications it itself can develop when they let it wonder in that direction."

My eyes shifted into his and I replied, "I feel the exact same way. Honestly, you couldn't have sorted that out into better words."

When we made it back down stairs Cassie and Shauna were just heading up. Shauna was still going on and on about the "haunted" chair and Cassie was concerned that they would find more "possessed" objects on the second level. I couldn't help but laugh. Criss headed over to Adriana and Tamera and began chatting with them about God knows what. I took a squat on the ground and picked up an old book I found titled, "Tales from a Mad Man's Dream". I was about 5 pages in when the room grew dark all of the sudden. The gas latten beside me must have burnt out… but some reason all of them in foyer to burn out at the same time, _that was just too odd_.

A few of the girls in the room screamed and a couple others just cussed. Their complaints were followed by flickers of lighters and flash lights.

Cassie and Shauna came rushing down the stairs in hurry to investigate what the commotion was about.

"That is just messed up! I told you this place is fucked up!" Brittney exclaimed as she backed away from the lantern to get closer to Criss and Adriana. Tamera had her arms wrapped around Criss's waist and Adriana had her hand on Tamera's shoulder.

"There is probably a logical explanation…" Criss sighed as went to take a step closer to the lantern that Brittney had been standing by but Tamera dragging him backward again.

Sighing I clicked my flash light on and picked up where I had left off in the book.

_A madman never tells his secrets, he always keeps them locked away. A madman will burry them deep inside and swallow the key-_

That book was weird but ironically true. I looked around and saw nothing but a sea _madwomen_ and one intense man.

Criss inspected the lantern for a moment and walked away dumbfounded. The girls were in a craze. Suddenly, the chair had moved again and they were either feeling too hot or too cold or their was a HUGE breeze that just blew by.

I on the other hand felt absolutely nothing. Well, I was tired and the hard floor that I was sitting on was killing my ass but other than that, I was perfectly fine.

"Melissa, how many people die a year in a mental hospital?" Lauren asked me as she rubbed her "cold" hideously tan arms.

"I don't know…" What a horrible question to ask!

"You should know, you work in one right?" She pointed out a bit rudely.

I slammed the book shut and shot her a nasty glare. "Yes, but not a ran down piece of shit like this!"

Criss laughed a bit and rolled his eyes. "Everything is fine girls, calm down. Nothing is wrong. It's just a lantern mishap."

_A lantern mishap, he is so cute. _

The girls scattered around again and this time Krystal busied herself with him trying to convince him that she was a _professional_ belly dancer.

_A least it was a subject change._

A few more girls, I think Andrea, Caitlyn and Emily went upstairs again about 15 minutes later and around that same time I got hungry. When I went to grab a snack out of the cooler my flash light started to grow dim. Kelly was off in the corner next to the coolers so I asked her if she would let me borrow hers for a moment.

"Sure, let me find it." She turned around and snatched it from under her sleeping bag. Adriana's flash light was propped on a shelve to spread light for the two of them.

"There." She handed it to me and when I went to click it on nothing happened.

"Nice, its dead too." I sighed.

She raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding…"

"No, try it." I offered it back and when she went to reach for it I heard Criss cuss.

"Any one have a WORKING flash light?" He hollered from across the room.

"We're having the same problem!" Kelly called back as she tested hers again until she gave up and tossed it down on the floor. It landed with a thud.

"This is outrageous!" She rubbed her eye and groaned.

I glanced around the room and saw that only two of the girls besides Adriana's flash light were still working.

_To be honest at that point I was starting to get nervous._

Criss ran up the stairs and checked on the other girls. When they got back down stairs sure enough only Caitlyn had a working light.

Of course this caused a whole entire new ruckus. Everyone began to fight over the damn flash lights like they were million dollar checks until all decided to split into groups and each group got one light. Only issue then was they started fighting as to which group Criss was in, so eventually it was decided that Criss passed out the flashlights and got his own.

_I swear these girls were in preschool._

Criss let Adriana keep her light and Caitlyn keep hers, but her gave Kelly and me one and took Lauren's. The issue was solved.

"I say we all just stay in this room." Shauna commented.

"I agree." Amelia nodded as she took a drink of Pepsi and stretched out on her sleeping bag.

"I think we should-" Krystal began but was cut off by a loud scratching sound which sounded as if it was radiating from the tiles in the hallway across the foyer.

My eyes bugged out and I felt my skin crawl from the annoying noise. It reminded me of nails of a chalk board and I could literally feel the sound vibrating in my teeth.

Kelly's head landed in my lap and her flash light blinded my eyes.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Tamera shirked as she snatched the flashlight from Adriana and shined it at where the noise was originating from.

I lined my light with hers and Criss clued in as well. All we found was a single key laying in the middle of the floor.

My heart speed and if it were possible I think my eyes got even larger.

_A madman never tells his secrets, he always keeps them locked away. A madman will burry them deep inside and swallow the key-_

Damn it! Why did I have to read that creepy book!

My flash light trailed along the floor until I spotted the book where I left it. It was face down still. _Whew!_

My light clicked off and Kelly jammed me in the ribs. "Turn it on! I don't want to freak out!"

"We're fine it was probably a raccoon or something." I noted.

"A raccoon!" She squealed.

"Or whatever they have in California…" I laughed.

Another hour passed until we heard or saw anything that was remotely supernatural. By then we were down to 2 flash lights, Kelly's had died along with mine and so did Adriana's. Caitlyn and Criss now sat on opposite sides of the room so that we could all have some light surrounding us.

"What time is it?" I asked Kelly through a yawn.

"3am." She replied.

"That's not bad, we only have a few more hours." I replied as I took a look around. Krystal was already asleep with her head propped on Emily's shoulder and so was Lauren. A few girls were playing games on their cell phone and others were just talking. Criss was… was starring at me?

I waved and turned away quickly before I made a complete asshole out of myself.

He stood up and went to walk towards me but woke Lauren up in the process. She tugged at his pant leg and he sat back down to reply to her.

_Screw it. I'm sleeping._

I rested my head back against my purse and drew in a deep breath. My mind wondered a bit before I felt my body relax. Right as I was about to drift into sleep I felt something hard and papery brush up against my hand. My eyes slowly popped back open. When I looked down I nearly screamed. The old faded green cover of the book that I had been reading was torn off and resting on the top of my hand.

"Criss!" I shouted in panic. I searched through the dim light and the array of women for him until I spotted him still sitting by Lauren.

His flashlight beamed my way causing me to squint and Kelly quickly ended her cell phone game of Tetris. "What happened?!" She looked me over thoroughly.

Criss made his way next to me and narrowed his eyes at the ripped book cover that I was holding with a shaky grip.

"I don't understand…" He shook his head.

"I was reading this book earlier, I had found it on the floor and all of the sudden its here!" I rattled.

Criss raised an eyebrow. "Where's the rest of the book?"

"I-I don't know, I was reading it straight over there…" I pointed and he went to walk over to investigate but Shauna held up the book.

"It's by me…" Her shadow appeared in Caitlyn's light and I gasped.

Criss strode over to her to get a closer look. She handed him the book and he took a long gaze at it.

"Hmm… Melissa, look at this-" He went to head over my way but as he was crossing over the entire room grew pitch black.

_Okay, NOW this is getting fucked up!_

"What the hell! I'm so done!" One of the girls yelled and I heard a rustling of sleeping bags.

"Ouch, damn it… Cassie is that your leg?" Brittney giggled and I heard Cassie snort.

"My light is trashed!" Criss sighed and I heard his footsteps stop.

"Mine too." Caitlyn groaned.

The only faces I could make out where the ones holding their cell phones. Criss reached into his pocket and slid his out. All I saw where his boots and the dusty floor underneath him.

"Let's hope these don't die next." Kelly commented as I searched through my purse for mine.

The room was filled with a small swinging noise and everyone grew silent.

"What is that?" Adriana asked.

"I had no idea… it's not me." What sounded like Cassie replied.

"It sounds like squeaky fan blades or some shit." Tamera pointed out as she moved her cell phone around her to investigate.

The sound got higher pitched and faster and the girls only grew more and more concerned.

Criss paced around trying to puzzle it all together and Kelly and I noticed that the noise was coming from directly above us.

"Girls…" I started as I directed my cell phone above my head noticing that the chandler above us was spinning out of control. It reminded me of an oversized and expensive toy top.

"Girls…" Kelly chimed as she slowly backed herself up.

"SHUT UP!" I finally yelled trying to get their utmost attention.

"Holy shit!" Criss shouted. "Melissa, Kelly… move!"

The next thing I knew Criss was running for his life and me and Kelly were pinned underneath his body on our backs. My head thudded against the front door and Kelly's legs slammed tight into her chest. Criss's cell phone was smashed into pieces next to my right arm and mine was somewhere underneath my thigh. Before I could recollect myself Criss's arm's covered my head along with Kelly's. Nearly seconds later the chandler in foyer came thundering down onto the floor with a crash.

"Oh my God!" I heard Shauna exclaim as Criss made his way back to his feet.

"Are you two alright?" He asked as he offered us both a hand.

"Yeah… thank you." I replied and Kelly did the same as she stretched out her legs.

The chandler was broken and scattered into several tiny pieces across the floor. The girls were all strewn across the hallway and farther into the foyer to avoid the mess. Luckily it didn't land on anything of importance to anyone.

"What the-" Cassie gasped as the gas lanterns flickered back on and I noticed that Tamera was crying on Adriana's shoulder.

Criss smiled as he walked into the center of the room next to the broken chandler.

"Well, girls… I think I've put you through enough for one night. I can honestly say you all are fantastic! Seriously, I'm impressed that each one of you stayed this long. But I've got to come clean, this was all set up."

"You're kidding me right…" Tamera wiped away her fallen tears and I heard Shauna click her tongue. A few others gasped and Emily exhaled for so long I thought she would pass out.

"I wanted to see how well you all would handle being in a situation where reality can become unknown. That is what I do in my profession, I blur the lines of reality and it is important for me to have someone who can react to that well." He explained. "So let's all head out of here, I have a hotel booked for you a few miles down the road."

_Well, I guess I should have figured that one out. After all I WAS on a show called __**Blurred Reality**__…_


	10. Three Is Company

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 10**

**~*Three Is Company*~**

The drive home from California gave me some time to think over how all of the girls had reacted to the challenge. I wish I could say that my decisions where becoming easier as the days passed but somehow each person in the show was starting to grow on me. Shauna was most certainly the initiator of the group when it came to last nights "haunted expedition". Even though she seemed as if she was a supernatural buff, I wasn't too sure if it was the right grounds to send her home. Her reactions to the staged paranormal activity seemed too genuine… then again, she was all too intrigued to further her curiosity. A lot of the girls were fairly neutral in the situation and I valued that in them while others just seemed as if the challenge was utterly below them and would have no part in it.

That night was when I first began to dread the Elimination Ceremony. As I looked over all of the beautiful unique women standing before me I think I actually started to grow nervous. I knew a few of them were here for the right reasons now and others were still coasting along. A few moments passed before I managed to greet them. When I did Cassie smiled and I heard Tamera mutter, "Hey sexy."

"I wanted to say again that all of you really did do a great job." I praised as I scanned over the faces on the stairs.

"And to be honest this is getting a lot harder…" My hand paused for a second as I reached for the 1st necklace. "But the girl who really impressed me in this challenge was… Melissa."

She looked shocked, very shocked as she passed up Brittany and made her way towards me.

"Seriously?" She questioned with a half smile. Her blonde hair looked different, it was actually pulled all the way back. I couldn't decide which way I liked it better…

_Hmmm…_

"Seriously." I handed her the necklace with a peck on the cheek. Her arms wrapped tight around my waist and I saw it as an opportune moment to whisper, "I'm up for another round of flashlight tag anytime."

It took her a moment but when she walked back to the stairs I noticed that she was blushing from head to toe.

The girls cheered her on and I was a bit taken back by how positive they were. Maybe the trip had infused some better energy? I called Kelly up next since she actually handled the blow from the chandler as well as Melissa. When it came down to the last three girls standing I had Adriana, Tamera and Shauna down on the carpet. Suddenly my mind went blank. I was going to send Adriana home before I walked out on stage. That was my main plan but she was just so gorgeous starring back at me with a body that I knew mine was dying to get to "know". And Tamera… dear God, I wasn't so sure who was better to gaze at her or Adriana? As for Shauna, I knew we had a chemistry already built and similar tastes from our first date. This was just way too difficult. But then it dawned on me why they were all standing there in the first place…

Adriana and Tamera were more concerned about getting their designer jeans dirty and poisonous spiders at the challenge and Shauna probably thought that I was Houdini's spirit fucking reincarnated! Not to mention that Adriana and Tamera were always starting fights in the house and on the date that Shauna and I had, I had to make out with her just to stop her from ruining my all time favorite bands. I suppose the truth of the matter was that I REALLY had absolutely nothing in common with these three girls.

I guess my thought process was taking awhile because the camera man next to me started to text someone on his cell phone. Lauren actually yawned and I think Melissa mouthed: IS HE OKAY?

"You know what…" I closed the magic box with the 2 remaining necklaces and drew in a deep breath.

"I've really given this all some thought and… Adriana, Tamera-" I paused to look them both over for a moment. "You two are seriously both such gorgeous women and deserve the best but I really don't think that we are compatible. I need a partner who is a little less high maintenance so to speak."

Adriana and Tamera looked at each other for second and then narrowed their eyebrows over at me. For a brief moment in time I thought they were going to physically attack me (_and not in the sexually ways I had been frequently fantasizing about either_).

"Whatever have fun with these nasty ass bitches!" Tamera matched off of the stage and Adriana followed her in mad dash.

_Well, after that I suppose it was well worth it._

Shauna took my words much easier, she actually wished me well and gave me a hug good-bye. A few of the girls gave her farewells and once she had headed off of stage they all shot me stunned looks.

"From here on out I'm not taking anymore chances. I'm not here for some kind of bullshit hook up or publicity scam. This the real thing. I hope I proved that tonight and I really hope that it pushes all of you to show me more of your _real_ selves." I explained seriously. With that said and done I headed off behind the curtain leaving a room full of silence behind me for a change.


	11. PopUps Are So Annoying

_**Blurred Reality**_

_**Chap. 11**_

_**Pop-Ups Are So Annoying**_

"That was beyond crazy!" Kelly broke the silence as we headed back to our hotel room.

Nodding I replied, "I know, I have no idea what he was thinking but to be honest I think he did the right thing…"

Kelly slid the card key into the door and when we entered I nearly gasped.

Criss was sitting on Kelly's bed with what appeared to be a pink hair extension clip in his right hand.

"What the- what are you doing here?" My hand found my heart immediately and Kelly ran up to him to snatch the pink extension out of his grip.

Criss laughed at her quick response and noted, "Pink suites you well, you should wear that on our next date?"

Kelly blushed from head to toe and muttered, "Thanks."

"I'm actually here to take Melissa out… if you don't mind Kelly?" His eyes searched hers for a moment and she shrugged.

"Sharing is caring." She joked as her fingers untangled the small synthetic fibers of the extension piece.

Criss chuckled and stood up from her bed.

"Where are we going?" I asked curiously. "Should I change?"

He shook his head. "No, you're fine. Come on, follow me."

His hand found mine in an instant and after we said good-bye to Kelly we headed out the door.

Criss explained to me that he needed to get something out of his room before we left and I hesitated for a minute by the door before he invited me inside.

"Come on in. It'll only take me a second, I KNOW I left my cell phone in here…" He walked further into his VIP suite and I paused a moment to glance around. It wasn't like I what had seen on MindFreak. I guess his suite had been moved for the show. I walked further into the large sitting area and took a seat on a plush off white couch. Criss headed off into his bed room and I heard a cat meow softly. Off on the side of the wall I noticed an arcade game with a punching bag and it made it giggle to myself. His voice echoed quietly from his bedroom and I knew he must have found his phone because it sounded like he was already taking a missed call.

A few minutes passed by and I noticed that a slim laptop was open on the coffee table in front of me. Out of boredom and partial curiosity I moved the mouse and saw a browser was open for his Criss Angel website. It looked much different from what I was used to. I guess he was in the process of making updates of sort. The browser on the bottom of the screen was closed and half read **EHARM**.

_Hmmm… that looked all too familiar._

_DON'T DO IT, THAT'S PERSONAL! _My conscious kicked in as my hand hesitated over the mouse.

Criss was still in the middle of what sounded like an important conversation and I could heard Hammie purring.

_Just one peak…_

I clicked open the link and gasped a little too loud to be considered "sneaky".

_You've got to be fucking kidding me? _My hand shook as I covered my mouth.

My Eharmony profile was right before my eyes and the second I went to ex out of it I heard Criss shut his bedroom door and end his call.

"You ready?" He questioned as he strolled up me.

I must have looked like a deer caught in head lights but I tried to calmly replied, "Umm, Yeah… let's go."

Criss glanced down at his laptop and closed it shut. "Alright…" He paused for a moment and then took a seat on the couch next to me.

"Where are we going?" I asked again.

His brown eyes stared deep into mine and I felt myself grow nervous.

"Nowhere. I decided we should stay in…"

"Stay in?" I half smiled as my palms grew clammy.

Criss shut his eyes for a moment and drew in a deep breath. "Yeah, stay in. I think that you and I REALLY have a lot to talk about."

* * *

She gazed up at me with the most non-convincing innocent look I had seen in long time. "Okay, sure. What do you want to know?"

I rubbed my hands on the sides of my thighs and thought for a moment before I spoke. "Honestly, I want to know why you didn't just reply to my request on Eharmony?"

_There, I tossed it out. Fuck it. _

Melissa bugged her eyes out for a second and then brushed a fallen hair behind her ear.

"Seriously… what are you talking about?"

I squared my eyes at her for a moment and she sighed. "Okay, okay. I admit it… I was snooping on your computer…" She confused.

I laughed. "I'm not upset. I probably would have done the same thing. I just want to know why you had to be bitch about it?"

"A bitch about what?!" She folded her arms against her chest in defense.

"About my message to you on the website…" I gestured over to the computer.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh come on! Was I really supposed to believe that you had an Eharmony account! Yeah right!"

"Well, I mean… yes and no. I have several accounts. I have a face book, myspace, twitter… a website. Why not Eharmony?" I rambled.

She laughed. "You don't reply to ANYONE on your website or your face book and then like-"

"You don't know that for a _fact_." I snapped.

"Whatever. Put yourself in my shoes for a moment..." She glanced away from me and the room got silent.

She was right. I knew she was right, I had absolutely no leg to stand on whatsoever. I just REALLY wanted this whole fucking VH1 show to be done with, I wanted to find the _perfect_ girl already and so far, Melissa and I already had a connection outside of the camera man and VH1 sign ups so it seemed too good to be true.

"I'm sorry I called you a poser." She laughed with her eyes still focused on the ground.

I wasn't too sure if she was being rudely sarcastic or if she was making a joke.

"It's alright. I guess I just need to get over that shit." Resting my head on the palm of my hand I glanced over at the wall and wondered how much easier my life would be if I was just an average guy with a regular 9-5pm job.

_Maybe dating would be a hell of a easier but my mind would be a hurricane of useless creative diarrhea. Hmmm… not worth it… _

_Damn that wall was too white, it was starting to hurt my eyes._

_How long was this room going to be quiet? Shit! _

_Say something, Criss!_

"Are you-" I started but she cut me off.

"Is that all you brought me on this "date" for, was to question me about this crap?"

"No, I did want to spend time with you." I replied honestly.

She chewed her bottom lip and sighed. "Well, I think you really need to get over yourself before I can make that happen."

"What?" I muttered.

_When did this conversation make that drastic of turn?_

"Just think about it. I'll be in my room. You can send me home anytime you'd like. After all that's what we are, _your puppets_."

And with that she stormed out of my room, leaving me alone with the blinding white wall.

**PLEASE NOTE: IT HAS BEEN RECENTLY BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION BY A READER THAT IN BOTH MY STORIES (LUCKY 13 AND BLURRED REALITY) THAT I HAVE _"GOTTEN CRISS' MIDDLE NAME WRONG"... _THAT IS NOT CORRECT, I DO IN FACT KNOW THAT HIS TRUE MIDDLE IS NICHOLAS... HOWEVER FOR FANFICION AND FICTIONAL PURPOSE I HAVE MADE HIS CHARACTER HAVE THE MIDDLE NAME OF ANTHONY... I AM SORRY IF THIS HAS MADE ANYONE CONFUSSED OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT. USUALLY I AM NOT COMFORTABLE WITH WRITING NON-MOVIE CHARACTER FANFICTIONS SO I DECIDED TO MAKE A SLIGHT CHANGE IN HIS NAME. THAT'S ALL. LOL! SO I AM TIRED OF GETTING FLAMES ABOUT IT. I DID IT ON PURPOSE!!! ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR READING!**

**Always,**

**Deppependant**


	12. Off Script

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 12**

So, maybe I should have never opened the damned laptop in the first place. Maybe then none of this would have even been brought to my attention and Criss wouldn't have seen my non-flattering crossbreed of anger and PMS. Either way I couldn't take back the harsh reality of my actions.

"What's wrong with you?" Kelly questioned as I stormed into our hotel room. The door slammed behind me with a brutal thud and caused Kelly to drop her insanely large make-up bag onto the floor.

"Shit!" She bent down and flipped her hair back in a fluid motion to collect her cracked foundation which was staining the carpet.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." I muttered as I reached down to help her.

"I take it that you and Criss didn't have that great of time?" Kelly's lips fought back a secret smile as her eyebrows stitched in question.

I shook my head. "No, we are trying to discuss a topic that is confidential at this moment in time…"

She stood back up and zipped her oversized make-up bag. "Confidential?"

I nodded. "Yes. It's between me and him."

"So just tell me, have you been to jail?" She snorted back a laugh.

My eyes rolled. "No!"

"Are you on drugs?" She pried taking a step away from me.

"Oh my god! Seriously! I don't have time for this." I headed back towards the door but was interrupted by a soft knock.

"Does anyone have an extra tampon?" Brittany whispered looking somewhat frantic.

_Shit, I needed to get away from this hotel._

I headed out, not really bothering that it was late or bothering that I didn't know my actual destination. I just wondered off around the hotel until I got tired of the same old scenes and people and eventually I found myself at the Excalibur. After $50 dollars wasted away in nickel slots and 3 long island ice teas later, I decided to call it an end to my small adventure. I headed back to the Luxor a little more wobbly than intended but in a fairly better mood.

"Are you going up or down?" A familiar voice questioned as I got into the elevator.

"Up." I replied not bothering to glanced away from my recent Text Message. My best friend had just sent me a message cluing me in on all the drama back home that I couldn't miss out on.

"I was hoping you would say down…" Laughter filled the mans voice and I hesitantly closed my phone.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be Twittering or Myspacing deprived fans?" I snapped back.

Criss leaned against the wall of the elevator and shrugged. "Maybe, but I figured I'd apologize instead."

Slipping my phone back into my purse I let out a sigh and tried not too concentrate too hard on the fact that his chest looked absolutely amazing in the shirt he was wearing. I _was _going to hold my ground.

"It's okay. I was out of line." I muttered.

_Wait, I was GOING TO hold my ground?!_

Criss took a step closer to me and whispered. "You are still welcome to come to my room, I know we never had the chance to finish our conversation."

My body froze and the only thing that brought me back to the earth was my cell phone vibrating inside of my purse.

"I, um… well, it's just _conversation_, right?" I stuttered.

Criss leaned away from me and smiled reassuringly. "Just conversation."

The elevator opened and the cool air struck my face like a cold compress. _How bad was I blushing? How hot was the elevator? How cold was the hallway? Better yet, why did I care?__I was going to Criss's suite!_

"So, tell me Melissa… how big of a fan are you?" Criss questioned as he unlocked his door.

That questioned made me nervous. I wasn't too sure how to answer.

"Well, I've been a fan for a long time." I replied as we walked past the kitchen.

"Do you want a drink?" He asked.

"No, I'm good, thanks. Maybe some water or something. I had too many long islands as it is already."

"How many did you have?" Criss laughed as he watched me attempt to hop onto a bar stool that was in his dinning area.

"Three." I replied. "They were just made great… you know how that goes."

Criss smiled crookedly. "I understand. Water it is, on the rocks." He turned back around and searched for a cup.

"I hope that you don't think that me being a loyal will change the reason as to why I am here." I said hesitantly.

Criss came back with my water and leaned in towards me to deepen our conversation.

"I hope as a loyal that you don't think less of me for doing a reality T.V. show."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Nah, if anything it gives us a chance to see more of you."

Criss smiled. "I guess. I don't want to be seen as a sell out."

"I hardly see it as that. I see it as an attempt to possibly gain love while you market your name." I replied as I brought the glass to my lips.

Criss nodded. "I suppose you are right but I just want to find "love" in someone who isn't just all about my _name_."

I glanced around the suite for a moment and realized that for once in a long while there actually wasn't a camera or a camera man in the room. My eyes widened when I came to the conclusion that we were _alone_.

"Are we on film?" I whispered into his ear.

Criss shook his head. "No, I wanted this to be between you and me."

His hand found mine across the granite counter top and I smiled. "I appreciate that Criss, I really do."

He brought my hand into his chest and side stepped until he was between my legs.

"I want you to know that I value your opinion above all the other girls in this hotel and I want you to know that so far they all mean shit compared to you." He said quietly as his fingers intertwined tighter with mine.

I fidgeted a bit with a skull ring on his middle finger trying to think of a reply but before I could he dropped my hand and bent down to my eye level.

Our eyes locked for a second before my lips found his in frenzy. The stool shifted from the impact of our kiss and I swiveled around until Criss locked my legs between his to stable me.

"I-I ugh, I think…" I struggled to find logical words when we pulled away.

Criss shot me a crooked smirk and stood up straight. "Sorry, I apologize… we were strictly conversing…"

My hands moved faster than my brain could register right from wrong and before I could stop myself I already had my fingers laced in his belt loop and my tongue was colliding with his once more.

"Melissa," Criss mumbled into my neck as he backed me against the kitchen counter.

My hands paused down his back still tugging at his shirt. "Yeah?"

It took him a minute to reply and I could sense the hesitation in his stiff body language. "If we aren't going to talk, then I think we should say goodnight before it's too late and we both regret this."

My eyes slid close out of embarrassment and half disbelief. They finally popped back open when I felt him plant a single peck to my forehead and I felt the bar stool jerk around again.

"I guess you're right…" I went to stand up and Criss side stepped again to get out of my way.

"Just tell me one thing…" I began as I made why to the door.

"What's that?" He asked seeming to be agitated in the situation.

"Tell me that if I was any other girl in the hotel we wouldn't be in your bedroom right now?" I glared into his brown eyes.

His jaw tensed at that remark. "I'll leave that for you to decide. Good night, Melissa."


	13. NOTE:OFF HIATUS!

**Yay! I finally finished Queen of Hearts and this is OFF of Hiatus!!! Thank you to everyone who was patient and thank you for all of your reviews while it was on Hiatus. (: **

**Always, Deppdependant**


	14. 11 Bottles of Midol, Please!

**Blurred Reality **

**Chap. 13**

**11 Bottles of Midol, Please**

Sometimes I swear that women are an entire different breed then men. I had always had a more difficult time wrapping my head around their logic. Sure, maybe I was good at "reading" emotions or peoples "poker faces" but breaking them down and twisting them into commonsensical motives were a whole other story. If I could concur that aspect of women (and men) then I would be the next Dr. Phil. _Fuck who knows, maybe I need a bald overly paid millionaire to solve my issues…_

As my mind rambled I took a seat next to Hammie on the couch and gazed at the blank television screen. I really didn't want to watch T.V. I should have already been asleep but for some reason I just kept thinking about Melissa. _What if I really had pissed her off? _

My doorbell rang interrupting my convoluted thoughts and Hammie lazily jumped off of my lap towards his food bowl.

_Hopefully it was her… I really wanted to clear things up..._

_Whatever the issue maybe be… Maybe she wasn't even upset? Shit, now I was confusing myself!_

"Hey, sorry to interrupt you. I was wondering if you had time to talk?" Amelia anxiously bit down at her bottom lip while I scanned her over through the cracked door.

She was one of the now 11 girls who were easier for me to remember. She always had on a gothic looking outfit. Tonight it was a short black latex skirt with a red corset and fishnets and these high heeled combat boots that made her look like a cross between a sexy vampire and a sexy vampire slayer… I couldn't pin point which one was more fitting.

_Hmmm… those damn boots were distracting._

"Yeah, sure. Come on, sweetheart." I opened the door wider and let her in, trying to keep my eyes off of her long ivory legs.

"Is everything alright?" I asked as I motioned for her to take a seat next to me on the couch.

_I guess the T.V. was staying off. I was official now._

Amelia drew in a deep breath, her deep green eyes finding mine.

"Everything is alright, I guess. I just really wanted to spend some alone time with you. I know that you and I haven't gotten that chance yet and I didn't want you to think that I'm not in this for you."

I swallowed hard. "I don't doubt that at all Amelia. I think that you are trying very hard."

_Now I understood the clothes or lack there of. God, I was dense._

She rested her head onto my shoulder and cuddled up next to me swinging her crossed leg over mine. "Is there anything I can do to prove my loyalty to you?" She purred smoothly into my ear.

My eyes slide shut for a moment as I attempted to control myself.

"Amelia," I began but she paused my lips by placing hers on top of them.

After a lustful moment between the two of us she reluctantly drew away from me and restated, "I do mean _anything_."

_You are here for love Criss, for LOVE… don't be a moron. BEHAVE!_

"Amelia, honey… I think you have the wrong impression. I respect you more than that. What I need is for you to go to bed and relax. I trust that you care about me and that you are for me. Alright? You don't need to do all this to prove it." I explained sweetly and she nodded with tears in her eyes.

_Shit, now what did I do?_

"I'm sorry, I made an idiot out of myself didn't I?" She sat up straight and covered her hands over her eyes.

Rubbing her back I replied, "No, you would have been an idiot if you didn't look amazing in that outfit." I tried to joke.

She half smiled but continued sniffle. "It really isn't like me to dress up like this to this extent. I just wanted you to notice me. I really don't want you to be with one of the skanky sluts in this show. Seriously Criss, you deserve so much better than them and yet here I am acting just like that. I guess you're right."

I shook my head still trying to console her. "I understand. Don't worry, I'm not holding any of this against you, if anything that kiss was amazing and I hopefully look forward to more."

Amelia grinned and pecked my cheek. "I can promise that."

"You don't have to wear all this to give me those." I assured honestly although part of me was torn. I really did like what she was wearing even though it was meant more for the bedroom.

_Sexy Vampire, I had finally resolved it. A now PMS-ing sexy vampire. Hmmm, there went my fantasy._

I stood up and opened my arms to embrace her one last time before I escorted her to the door. After I let her out I noticed a group of girls standing outside in the hallway next to Cassie and Brittney's room.

"That was my curling iron Brittney give it back!" Lisa pounded loudly on their door with Andrea and Caitlyn shouting behind her.

"Just open the door Bitch, I need to borrow it for tomorrow!" Andrea sighed and rested her head on the wall.

"Borrow it, NO ONE ELSE IS BORROWING IT!" Lisa screamed as she kicked the door again.

_Holy shit, it was just a goddamn curling iron! Give it back to the girl and shut the fuck up already! It was almost 2am!_

Maybe it was just me but all these girls really needed a giant dose of Midol.

* * *

"So oh my God, Melissa… Listen to this!" Amelia began excitedly as we got into the elevator together to head to the theater. According to Criss's note that was where the challenge was going to held at today. All the note read was: _**Some stars shine brighter than others. Meet at the theater by noon.**_

I had no idea what he had in store for us. All I could think was a possible magic trick or for us to make or own?

"What's up?" I replied dully to Amelia as she bubbled away.

"I TOTALLY went to Criss' room last room." She gushed as she flipped her long hair behind her shoulder.

"You wha-what?" I stuttered.

"I went to his room. It was awesome! And best part is, we totally made out! He is so fucking sexy!"

My heart paused for a moment and it took me a minute to restart it again. "Huh, really? Good for you…. That's great…"

_It took all I had not to end my VH1 contract right then and there._

Amelia kept on drowning on and on about Criss and how amazing he was the entire walk down to the theater until eventually I tuned her out with my own thoughts. I couldn't believe him. How could he tell me one thing and go and do a complete other. Maybe I really didn't mean anything to him like he had said? Maybe he really was just doing this show for a piece of ass? Who knows? Then again, I was in a competition and I did need to get used to all these other girls touching him… wait, that was my issue. I was _jealous_. Jealously meant that I had feelings for him. It never really bothered me this bad before when I saw him with the other girls… oh my God… I really was falling for Criss Angel.

Criss looked either hung over or dead tired as he made his way onto the stage. That didn't help my already strained emotions about him and Amelia any. How late had they stayed up together? How long had they "made out"?

"What's up girls? Today I thought that we'd lighten things up a bit from the last challenge. We're going to be doing a talent show! I want all of you to show me one special talent that you have, it can anything but you have to act it out on stage in front of everyone. Me and my brother JD will be judge. We'll be judging on your overall performance, creativity, and of course personality. The top 3 will win a date. You have exactly 1 hour to get ready. I'll see you all soon. Good luck." He explained.

_1 hour… was he joking?_


	15. Exit Stage Left

**Blurred Reality **

**Chap. 14**

**Exit Stage Left**

The hour seemed to evaporate before my very eyes. I really didn't consider my "talent" to be a talent at all. I had always been good at writing poetry, good enough to have binders upon binders of useless scribbles and random thoughts. Once I had even been published in a small time magazine back in Indianapolis and my minor in college was literary arts. I suppose the word "gifted" fit better than "talented". The two words actually meant the same thing but to me talented came off as arrogance. I decided to read off one of the few poems I could remember, it was actually my favorite.

Caitlyn was the first to take the stage. She singed and danced a not so impressive remake to Mariah Carey's "Obsessed". She even dressed herself up in a tight ass gold low cut gold dress and pulled her brown hair back into an outlandish updo.

Next up was Brittney who decided that her talent was wiggling her ears, crossing her eyes, twisting her tongue over to both sides, AND (the show stopper) that she could put both feet behind her head and do a summer salt backwards.

_Wow… she was special._

Lauren, Cassie and Andrea teamed together and dirty danced on stage (and off stage_… meaning on Criss_) to the song "Birthday Day Sex". If it wasn't for the fact that Lauren's thong was half exposed every time she "got low" their dancing really wasn't half bad. Criss looked MORE than impressed as well and I'm sure he didn't mind Lauren's pants as much as I did.

Krystal played chop sticks on the piano. The piano was supplied by the theater.

Lisa made balloon animals which were actually really cute.

Emily actually juggled which I enjoyed because I am nowhere near that coordinated.

Amelia decided to show us all that was double jointed in her shoulders, wrists and knees and that she could also do handstand for over 1 minute.

"Melissa." Criss signaled me up on stage with a smile. I nervously approached and tried to concentrate on not forgetting my poem.

"This is a poem I wrote awhile back. I like to write poetry on my free time. I hope you enjoy it. It's called Society's Beauty:

Candy coated

Freshly polished

Fragrant baring

Unstained Skin

Darkened Complexion

Blonde to the eye

Blue tinted orbs

Colorful ribbons

Loaded Enough

Crashing waves

Straightened, No Curves

Tight trunks

Loose garments

Full-breasted

Flat middle

Extended rear

Mountain air

Strutting stride

This is not Beautiful"

The room grew so silent I could hear a bobby pin drop and it felt like eternity before it was broken. I was shocked when it was.

* * *

I couldn't help but stand up and clap. That poem was amazing. THAT was a talent, unlike pathetic crossed eyes and double jointed knees. THAT was what I had been looking for. Melissa grinned and me and the other girls seemed to scowl back at us.

"That was wonderful!" I praised as she headed off stage and took her seat next to Cassie.

"Thank you." She replied humbly.

"And last but certainly not least is Kelly."

Kelly was dressed up in what seemed to be a cheer leading outfit. She looked somewhat ridiculous to be honest. The outfit was a little too much, not to mention her obscene hair. It was pulled back into some kind of humongous teased ponytail with sparkles. It almost made me wonder if it was real.

"Give a 'C'!" She leaped across the stage and flung her arms above her head.

"Give me a 'R'!"

_Fuck, she wasn't… was she?_

"Give me an 'I'!" Kelly cart wheeled to the side.

_Oh good Lord, she was…_

"Give me an 'S'!" She back hand sprigged off to the left and made her way to continue the cheer by shouting out yet another 'S'. I watched her attempt another cart wheel and leaned forward in suspense.

_Damn, that's close to the edge of the stage… She's not going to make-_

"Kelly!" I shouted trying to warn her but she arched her back and leaned downward.

The girls gasped. Her ankle shifted slightly to the side on the edge of the stage and she lost her balance causing her to tumble downwards about 10 feet.

"Oh my God, Kelly!" Melissa came running towards the stage along side of me in a panic.

Kneeling down I went to place my hand underneath Kelly's head but Melissa shooed me away.

"Kel, came you hear me?" Melissa asked loudly as she carefully readjusted her body on the hard floor.

Kelly looked like she was out like a light. It was pretty apparent to me that she had cart-wheeled her way head first into the fall so she more than likely had a concussion. I knew the look, I've had a few too many in my lifetime.

Melissa checked her pulse against my own watch and shook her head.

"We need a medic over here!" She yelled behind her back.

"You look like one to me…" I muttered.

_A very talented one at that._

**NOTE: NOTE PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MELISSA'S POEM THAT WAS WRITEN BY ME AND HAS BEEN PUBLISHED IN A BOOK UNDERNEATH MY NAME AND IS COPY WRITTEN. THANKS FOR READING! PLS REVIEW! **

**Always,**

**Deppdependant**


	16. Zebra Print Room Keys

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 15 **

**Zebra Print Room Keys**

Kelly was transported to the local hospital for x-rays and to wrap up her sprained ankle. The rest of us girls stood there shocked as Criss made his way onto the stage to reveal who the winners were.

"Alright girls, I did get informed that Kelly should be back later tonight if everything goes well at the hospital so please keep her in your thoughts. Overall, you all showed me some very interesting talents." He paused to laugh a bit. "But the 3 of you who I think over shinned the rest were Krystal, Lisa and Melissa. I'll see the 3 of you lucky ladies at 6pm by the entrance of the Luxor. Dress casual. The rest of you girls I'll see at elimination tonight at 10pm."

It felt so strange to return back my hotel room alone for once. In a way it was a slight relief to have the time to myself. Of course, I was still concerned for Kelly but I enjoyed the quiet. I decided to wear a blue side swept shirt and a pair of jeans with casual heels on the date. My hair wasn't cooperating so I tossed it half way back into a sleek pompadour and accented my outfit with a cute silver necklace.

By the time I made my way down to the Luxor main entrance Krystal and Lisa were already there. Krystal's idea of casual was along the same lines and mine but I think Lisa was ready for the club. She had on this tight as hell zebra print dress with 5 inch red heels and a matching red clutch. Her brown hair was spiraling down past her shoulders in large curls and she had so much perfume on I was tempted to step outside for fresh air. Krystal grinned over at me and somehow seemed to silently agree at my wrinkled up nose.

"I love your shirt." She commented softly.

"Thanks. You look good as well." I replied honestly.

Criss seemed to appear out of thin air and interjected, "I agree Melissa, you two look amazing."

Lisa cleared her throat.

"And of course you too." Criss chuckled. "Come on, outside. I've got a limo waiting."

_Fresh air, oh how I love you! _

* * *

Mostly every woman I know loves shopping so I figured that I'd take the girls out to "Gucci" at the Bellagio. I figured that one necessity that everyone needed in Vegas was sunglasses and one necessity every women can never have enough of are handbags. Needless to say they were more than thrilled.

"How about these?" Lisa giggled as she held up a pair of purple square framed sunglasses.

"Yuck!" Krystal shook her head. "For $250 those looked like Barney regurgitated them!"

I laughed. "Yeah… she's right hun, try the brown frames I think they'd work better with your face."

Lisa frowned a bit and reached for the brown.

"Hey Criss, is this so me, or what!" Krystal shot me a sexy glance from behind white rimmed sunglass while she held up a gigantic white purse. It was true to was totally her. Her personality was large.

I shot her a thumbs up and glanced back at Lisa who was now dead set on the brown glasses and a hideous zebra purse (go figure). Melissa was standing off by the purses and had a classic black evening bag in her hand and a pair of what looked like men's sunglasses.

"Here, why don't you get yourself something, I know you're probably bored out of your skull." She winked as she handed the glasses over to me.

"Aw, this is for you not me." I replied as I gazed down at them hesitantly.

"And I am here for YOU not me." She responded as she placed a soft kiss on the side of my cheek. "Try them on. They'll look great."

_Some one please tell why this woman was still single!_

Once we had finished shopping I took the girls out for a drink at Liquidity right in the Luxor. We sat in the back off at a quiet lounge table and as I sipped on my beer and I decided it is was time to start getting down to business.

"So how are things going with other girls?" I questioned nonchalantly.

Krystal shrugged a bit, swirling the straw in her cocktail. "Okay, I guess.

"Yeah, thinks could be better." Lisa sighed.

Melissa remained quiet and picked at her thumb nail.

"Better as in like you don't like your room mates or you think that I sent the wrong people home?" I questioned curiously.

"Personally, I think that there is just a lot of drama here. Unnecessary and unneeded drama orfwhich all of us are guilty of in one way or another but I don't think that it is going to end until there is only one girl left. Women who are competing for something cannot live together it has already been proven."

"I disagree, I think that half of the girls here are still here for either fame or money or boredom or hell, even free food! I think that when if gets down to the REAL girls, like ME and a few select others in the show that then there wont be as much shit taking and bullshit in the hotel anymore." Krystal inserted.

"What do you think Melissa?" I asked as I set my beer down and glanced across the table at her.

She sighed roughly and rubbed at her temples. "I agree with both of them in way but yes, I think that you have sent all the right people home. I think that you still have many more to send home. If you are asking me for my personal opinion, I will not share it, that is for you to come up with. In the end you have to make that decision we can only try to prove that we are the best."

Krystal nodded her head in agreement to Melissa's words and Lisa shrugged. "I'm just tried of my room mate. I get no sleep. She snores like a chainsaw."

"Me too… I hear you there. I'm tried of people stealing my shit!" Krystal groaned.

Melissa bit her lip and laughed. "I'm just TIRED."

"Alright, I will try to work something out. Just one more question?"

They all looked up at me and lazily blinked.

"Who wants another drink?"

* * *

"Melissa, will you continue to live my Blurred Reality?" Criss smiled widely as he placed the necklace around my neck.

"Of course!" I returned happily. His lips softly grazed mine and I felt my heart speed up a bit as I took my place back onto the stairs.

"Get over here Krystal!" Criss laughed as he watched her come down wearing the white sunglasses.

After he had run through 8 girls, the last that where left standing were Caitlyn and Brittney.

"Brittney come down here please." Criss instructed.

She stood before him anxiously and drew in a deep breath.

"I was really disappointed at how you performed in the talent show, I know that you can do better than that. I do know that you want to be here. Right?"

"I do. I really do. I just get really nervous on stage and I had no idea what to put together. I'm here for you Criss. I swear, please don't send me home. Please give me another chance." She nearly begged.

He bit his bottom lip as he thought for a moment and replied. "I will. Just show me more of your true self." He placed the necklace around her and signaled for Caitlyn to come down.

"To be honest, your performance was much better than Brittney's but I felt like you were singing the song to an ex and not to me. I can't be in a relationship with someone who isn't fully over the person they just dated. I'm sorry, I think that you are wonderful girl and I truly wish the best for you." Criss explained.

Caitlyn nodded with tears filling her eyes. "You're right. Thank you. Good luck!" She wrapped her arms around him tightly and made her way over to us to say goodbye.

Once she had walked off stage Criss made an announcement.

"I know that recently after every elimination everyone has been having their room mates switch or having to switch hotel rooms. We first started this show with 20 girls and 10 rooms, 2 girls to each room. I know that there is a lot of unnecessary drama going on in the hotel and between room mates so there for in attempts to try to cool that down I am now giving each of you girls your own hotel room. When you get back tonight the crew will assign to your new room. I hope this helps. I have also gotten news that Kelly did have a concussion and did sprain her ankle. She is back but please do not disturb her tonight she is resting. I hope you all sleep well!"

_So this was the official end of the Bloom Room?! _


	17. Just Shut Up!

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 16**

**Just Shut Up!**

The girls were all in complete chaos when we made it back to the hotel rooms. Everyone began bickering over what room they had been moved to and which ones had better bathrooms or the most impressive views. Kelly stayed in what had been our room and mine was moved all the way down to the end of the hallway. My room number was now 3020. The room across from mine was empty and the only other room down was a double door suite… actually… that room was Criss'. _I could get used that room instead. _

Kelly was in fact napping when I went in to gather my luggage. Her right ankle was wrapped up and propped upon two pillows. The last thing I wanted to do was wake her up. I really wasn't in the mood for her complaining or for her hyper personality. Although, a small part of me was going to miss sharing a room with her, I was really looking forward the peace and quiet.

"Hey, Melissa… we're all heading down to LAX!" Emily shouted from outside her hotel room door. "Be ready in like half an hour!"

I nodded and flashed her a cheesy smile. "Sure thing."

To be honest I wasn't in the mood for the club. I wanted to relax and set up my new room but I knew if I didn't go out than I wouldn't hear the end it of from the girls. They were kind of like skinny over grown vultures waiting to pick on anything or anyone not conforming to their liking. I wasn't in the mood to become their newest prey either.

~*~

LAX was packed. It was Saturday and there was a line running through the casino area to get inside. Lucky enough for the 9 of us we got in as VIP since we were part of the VH1 show. For once Lisa actually looked half way decent and was only wearing one article of clothing that had animal print, her shoes. I was shocked. Brittney, Lauren and Andrea made their way onto the floor together while Krystal, Cassie, Lisa and got drinks at the bar. I had no idea where Amelia went off to, but then again she was just awkward anyhow.

"Did you happen to see Kelly tonight Melissa?" Krystal questioned as she swayed her hips to the beat of the loud music.

I nodded. "Yeah, I did for a second when I went to collect my things out of the hotel room but she was asleep."

"Aw, poor girl… I hope she feels better." Lisa pouted before she took a sip of her beer.

"Yeah me too." I replied.

"What if she isn't okay to compete for tomorrow? I wonder what Criss will do?" Cassie interjected.

Krystal cleared her throat loudly. "He should be understanding and she should be fine, don't talk like that!"

Folding her arms against her chest Cassie replied, "I wasn't trying to be shitty but this is a competition, REMEMBER!"

My eyes rolled as I took a long drink of my martini and glanced over at Lisa who shook her head.

"I know, I know. But you could at least for sorry for the girl!" Krystal half-laughed.

"Whatever Krystal… hey, where the hell is Amelia? I don't see her on the dance floor?" Cassie pointed out.

_At least I wasn't the only one to notice that the girl was gone._

"I don't know. I haven't seen her since we've been here." I shrugged.

"Hmmm… shit, that's not good, maybe we should look for her? This place is packed. I'm gonna go see if Emily wants to go look around in the bathroom with me. I'll see you girls in a few." Cassie headed off back towards the dance floor.

"Nice ploy to drop that convo." Lisa laughed over to Krystal. "Like she gives a flying fuck about anyone here but herself! Give me a break!"

Krystal giggled a bit and flipped her hair back behind her ear. "I agree 100%, come on… let's go dance, girls."

* * *

_1800-588-2300 EMPIRE (insert overly played commercial tune)_

"_SHAM-WOW!"_

"_And then after you mix the carrots in you pop it in the oven at 400 degrees and VOLA! You have the best-"_

_**FUCK!!!**_

_**JUST SHUT UP!!!!**_

I shut the T.V. off and practically threw the remote across the room. I swear to God this Reality show was making me insane. I never used to stay locked up inside my room and watch infomercials. I had WAY too much free time on my hands for the time being. I needed to get out, see new people other than the girls and a camera man for a change. I decided to hit up LAX, they hadn't seen me in awhile and _man_… I really wanted Captain and coke.

~*~

I wasn't shocked to see that LAX was packed. I was however shocked to see Amelia come and run up to my VIP table before I even had the chance to order my beloved Captain.

"Criss! I thought I saw you walk in!" She seemed to struggle to catch her breath.

_Did she run up the stairs the moment she caught a glimpse of me? I JUST sat down._

"Yeah… Umm, yeah…" My tongue was lost for words for a moment having been completely caught off guard. "Have a seat or something, hun."

She smiled brightly and sat down on the velvet couch along side of me. "Sorry are you busy?" She asked as she looked around my empty table.

"No, I'm by myself tonight. You're fine. Are the other girls here as well?"

"Yeah, they're downstairs dancing. Why are all alone?" She questioned with a saddened tone.

I shrugged a bit and toyed around with the rings on my right hand. "Just bored and wanted to get out for a few. I really wasn't expecting to see you here. Do you want a drink?"

"Sure, thank you. A Miller Light would be great." She replied as she adjusted the strap on her dark blue mini dress.

After I had ordered our drinks Amelia began chatting away about the girls and the new hotel room she had and how much she liked being by herself instead of having a roommate. She told me about where she grew up in Michigan and how she wasn't used to sure dry weather in Nevada and how she missed the snow. To be honest, I didn't mind our conversation but for some reason I felt like we were developing more of a friendship that a romantic connection. The more I looked at her the more I felt as if there just wasn't any chemistry between us. Sure, she was a gorgeous girl who had everything to offer a man physically and mentally but there just wasn't anything really drawing me in for some odd reason. Maybe I was loosing my mind. Maybe this reality show was making me gay….

"Did you hear me?" Amelia questioned as she kissed my cheek.

"Huh? I'm sorry sweetie?"

She giggled softly and ran her hand against mine. "I said that you look amazing tonight."

_Good, job moron… you obviously nodded and agreed to all the wrong sentences that you weren't paying any attention to get into this situation again._

"Oh, thank you. So do you." I replied with a smirk and squeezed her hand.

"Thanks." She responded modestly. "I tried to keep it a little less revealing this time."

I laughed as I took a drink not knowing what to say in return.

There was a brief moment of silence between us until I noticed a familiar face appear at the head of the winding staircase that separated off the VIP section.

"Cassie?" I called curiously.

"Criss?!" She exclaimed excited. "Amelia!"

"Hey, you!" Amelia chuckled at her stern face.

"We've been searching all over this damned club for your ass and here you are slobbering all over my man!" Cassie joked.

Amelia stood up from the table and shook her head playfully at Cassie. "You'd do the same!"

I decided to head downstairs and spend the rest of the night with all of girls. They were more than thrilled. I danced with all of them together for at least an hour and before I knew it was well past 2am. All of the girls were WAY past their limit… except Melissa. She was quietly sitting at the bar most of the night watching all of us. That bothered me. It didn't bother me that she wasn't intoxicated of course, actually I admired that… but what I didn't like was the fact that she wasn't as interactive as the rest of the girls were.

While we were leaving the club I decided to pull Melissa back up to the VIP room and address her less than social behavior.

"Are you feeling alright tonight?" I questioned seriously as we sat down.

Her eyebrows narrowed slightly. "I'm fine are YOU feeling alright?"

"Umm, yes. Why are deflecting my question?" I laughed.

She shrugged a bit. "Because, its obvious that you brought me up here to criticize me on something. When in all actually maybe you should think about the full situation before you do." She retorted.

My bottom lip found its way between my teeth and I sighed. "Okay. Maybe I do need to think things over a bit. It just appeared as if you didn't care tonight that's all…"

"That's not how I feel. I just refuse to constantly be up your ass and around the corner like the other girls. Maybe sometime it might help if you showed me some attention as well." She replied defensively.

_I couldn't take this shit anymore with this girl. _

"Melissa, shut up…" I muttered as I forcefully pulled her body closer to mine.

"What?!" She nearly yelled.

"Just shut up!" I smiled. "Kiss me already before I literally go insane."


	18. Cast Your Vote

**CAST YOUR VOTE**

DEAR LOYALS,

This is your chance to help Criss on his journey of finding love. Below are links to the remaining top ten Blurred Reality girls who still have a chance to win over his heart and now, yours! Please cast your vote upon who you feel has the most potential to be matched with Criss. Please keep in mind all criteria, personality, looks, and of course overall chemistry! The girl with the most votes will be SAFE from the next elimination.

Next, Please cast your vote as to who you feel has the is the LEAST deserving to stay on the show. Feel free to leave any comments on the message board as to why you choose who was your favorite and who was your least. Criss will be reviewing all of your answers and votes at the end of the weekend. Thank you so much for watching! Stay tuned!

VH1 and Criss Angel Management

YOU CAN VIEW ALL OF THE PICTURES HERE

http: // . com/albums/nn205/sarbearthedeppster/

(DO NOT INDCLUDE SPACES, I HAD TO SO THAT THE LINK WOULD SHOW. You can also go to photobucket and search Sarbearthedeppster.)

**NOTE:** **IF YOU ARE "VOTING" THEN PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW AS TO WHO YOU ARE VOTING FOR LOL! THANKS! I THOUGHT THAT THIS WOULD BE A FUN WAY TO INTERACT AND IT DOES HAVE TO DO WITH MY NEXT CHAP! HEHE! HOPE U ENJOY THE PICS! **


	19. Go Hard Rock or Go Home

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 17**

**Go Hard Rock or Go Home**

Needless to say that night I had amazing dreams of Criss. I couldn't believe how forward he had been at the club_, not that I had minded at all_. He told me before we left that I needed to head straight to bed because the there was going to be BIG challenge for me and the rest of the girls in the morning. For some reason I felt more anxious about this upcoming challenge than usual. Maybe it was because he had gone out of his way to inform me about it or maybe it was just because the competition seemed as if it was getting tougher. Either way, sleeping wasn't as easy as he made it sound when all I could do was recklessly dream about his hands on my hips and his lips on mine.

The next morning I was woken up by a loud knock on the door and when I answered it was Brittney informing me that Criss had woken her up to tell her that everyone was to meet down at the theater again by 10am. When we all arrived the theater was completely dark except for the stage lights and upon closer look we discovered that the 1st center row had two other girls filling the seats.

"What the hell?" I whispered over to Cassie who was helping Kelly with her crutches.

"I have no idea…" She shrugged as we all made our way closer to the stage.

"Please don't tell me that more girls are being added to show!" Lauren whined as she pulled her hair back into a tighter bun.

My eyes trailed off to the side of the stage and I noticed Criss was starting to make his way out to greet us. When I examined the girls in the front row a bit closer they all seemed to have one thing in common… they looked like Criss Angel's merchandise store had literally thrown up on them.

"Good morning ladies!" Criss smiled brightly as he ran up to the center of the stage.

The two girls in the front row each had the same reaction to his presence, utter happiness… so utter than one of them literally started to shake.

_What the hell was dragging us into?!_

"Alright, so you all know that now the competition is stating to heat up a bit and we are already half way through the show until I make my final decision. Today, I thought that I'd do things a little bit differently. As you all know my Loyal's mean a lot to me… as a matter of fact each one of you here were chosen by other Loyal's. So I figured that since you were chosen by them they should also have a say in which one of you stays and which one of you goes home." Criss paused for a moment and jumped down off of the stage towards the unknown girls.

"I'd like you all to meet Rayne and Emma. These wonderful girls probably know more about me than I know about myself. They've been Loyal fans pretty much since day one. Emma and Rayne were actually fans of mine BEFORE Mindfreak… which is kinda scary." Criss laughed a bit. "They each have something planned for you. Treat them with respect and remember they will be reporting back to me at the end of the day who they think is most deserving of staying here and who is the least. I'll see you all later. Good luck!"

That challenge was unlike any one before. First Rayne and Emma split us girls up into 2 groups.

Group one was labeled as the "Red Team".

And Group two was labeled as the "Blue Team".

I was on the Red team which consisted of: Me, Andrea, Emily, Kelly and Lisa.

The Blue team was: Amelia, Cassie, Krystal, Brittney and Lauren.

"Now, Red team looks like you'll be spending the day with me…" Emma grinned as she tucked a piece of her highlighted strawberry blonde hair behind her ear.

I looked over at the "Blue team" and saw them circling off in a corner of the theater with Rayne.

Emma continued. "Hopefully all of you already know that Criss has a passion for music as well as magic. Rayne and I first became fans of his back in the 80's when he'd both sing and do magic on stage. He later did formed a band called AngelDust with the singer of Celldweller which is still featured in his recent MINDFREAK episodes. Now, back in the 80's Criss was more into the hard rock and almost glam scene… so today I want you girls to form a rock band of your own. Be creative! You must write your own lyrics, play your own instruments, sing and dance. Also you must come up with a name for your band. All of instruments are behind the theater and so are some radical costumes. You've got until 3pm until you have to have your song prepared and you will be competing against the Blue team. So gear up and get ready to rock out!"

_Where in the hell was Shauna when we actually needed her?_

All 5 of us sprinted back stage and scrambled to find the instruments.

"Does anyone actually know how to play anything?" I questioned seriously as we all started at one another clueless.

"I know how to play the guitar… kinda." Lisa leveled out her right hand as if to signal that her knowledge of the guitar was rocky.

"My brother plays the drums. I know like 3 rifts and a maybe a beat. I might be able to figure out something…" Kelly shrugged.

"Okay… so Kelly you can do drums and Lisa is on the guitar… now we need a singer…?"

"I'll sing." Emily blurted.

"Me too, you me and Melissa can each sing and dance while they play." Andrea interjected. "And Melissa you're good at writing so you can take over with writing the song."

"Sounds good to me." I nodded.

Once we headed over to the wardrobe area things started to go south from there.

"I think we should all dress the same." Emily offered.

"I think we should dress gothic-ish and have giant hair and huge heels. Like 2000's mixed with the 80's." Lisa said as she pulled a black stiletto heel off of the rack of the clothes.

"I'm NOT dressing in all black, I HATE black… who do I look like Amelia?!" Kelly rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, it's just for one fucking song. Get over it." Lisa snapped as she slipped on a fishnet shirt.

"I agree. Kelly come on, grow up. You can put your pink shit on later." I half laughed.

"JUST SHUT UP!" Andrea yelled. "Seriously, it's not that fucking hard, put some damned clothes on and get on with it!"

Kelly glared her eyes into Andrea's and stuck up her nose. "Fine, I'll just wear what I'm wearing. Forget your shit."

"I have an idea! Let's all wear RED and black." I sighed loudly. "Since we are the RED team…"

_Maybe then Kelly would shut the FUCK up!_

"Good idea! I'm in." Lisa smiled.

"Me too." Emily nodded.

"Whatever, that's fine." Andrea shrugged.

Kelly hobbled her way back over towards me. "That's okay… I guess."

Once we had FINALLY agreed on a damn wardrobe, Kelly and Lisa started to practice with their instruments a bit while the rest of the girls helped me write lyrics. Our song was called, "Lovely Illusions". It basically told a short story about falling in love with such an amazing person that you couldn't tell if it was all an illusion or reality. We all agreed that our band name would be " The Devious Delusions".

At 3pm we all filed back into the theater and found Rayne, Emma, Criss and Sully from Godsmack sitting in the front row.

"Welcome back!" Criss stood up as we headed on stage, splitting ourselves into our "Teams".

"I'm not here to judge your performance today but I couldn't miss out on watching you girls. Instead to take my place I invited my good friend who you all remember from the cook out, Sully Erma from Godsmack. He will be judging you on your overall performance and the girls will be judging you on your creativity. Up first is The Devious Delusions."

_Great, we were up first. Shit._

* * *

Emma nudged me in the ribs and whispered, "This is should be a trip."

I nodded slowly as I watched Kelly balance her crutches on the swivel chair of the drums and attempt to click the drumsticks together in the air.

"1, 2... 3!" She hollered before she began to bang away some kind of God awful noise which was shortly followed by Lisa's off beat guitar. Emily belted out lyrics in the center of the stage while Andrea and Melissa covered the back up singing and danced around every which way seemingly possible. Overall, the entire the song I kind of wanted to crawl out of my own skin and smash that obnoxious fucking guitar into Kelly's drum set… _what in the hell were they thinking?! _

Sully glanced over at me once they were finished and whispered, "At least the lyrics were alright… I don't know about much else… besides that at least they still looked hot murdering that song."

I cracked up. "True."

Rayne's team was called "Promiscuous Tendencies". The moment they stepped on stage I could tell that Amelia had coordinated everything from wardrobe to the lyrics. They sang a song called "Vanish Me Before Midnight". I was shocked to find that Amelia knew how to play the electric guitar (and very well) and could actually sing a note correctly. Krystal played the piano in a lower darker key and the other girls back up sang and danced along. Hands down, I enjoyed it.

"Looks like my girls kicked your girls asses." Rayne smirked over to Emma, her brown eyes lighting up.

"For now, we'll see what happens later tonight…" Emma folded her arms against her busty chest.

"Would you two knock it off." I played scolded. "Always fighting. PROMISE ME you won't rip them all pieces later… I happen to actually like some of the girls here."

Rayne bit her lip and Emma sighed roughly. "Fine. We promise."

_Hmm.. Somehow I could still sense dishonesty in their words. _


	20. Your Loyal Opinion Sucks

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 18**

**Your Loyal Opinion Sucks**

After our "rock band" had totally slaughtered the song and we had pretty much humiliated ourselves I wasn't surprised to hear that the other group had won. I also wasn't shocked to find out that Criss would be taking them all out to get pedicures and their hair done while the 5 of us got stuck back at the hotel.

At about 6pm I heard footsteps running down the hallway outside of my room which were followed by excited giggles and loud banging doors. I knew the girls must have back so I peaked my head out to find out the news from their date.

"Oh my God! It was soooo much fun! Look at my hair!" Lauren grinned as she showed off her new caramel highlights.

My eyes rolled slightly. "They look nice."

Amelia trailed behind her, her hair an even more fabricated red.

Before they could began to dish who Criss had kissed and what all he had said we all spotted Emma and Rayne making their way out of the elevator and down towards us.

"Fuck me running man, what do they want now?" Cassie groaned as she leaned her head on her suite door.

"Hello ladies!" Emma waved over dramatically, her signature Criss Angel bracelet jingling a bit.

_Over done much?_

"Hey…" I muttered less than thrilled that they were back.

Rayne stood before me and Andrea and placed her hands on her hips. "We really didn't have a chance earlier to get to know each and everyone of you for who you really were so we figured that we would stop in and chat with you all for awhile."

"Where are we going?" Lauren questioned curiously.

"Nowhere. We figured we would stop by and talk to you each one on one." Emma replied.

By this time all ten of us were gathered behind the two of them in the hallway.

"Look, I it's really cool that you two are big fans of Criss or whatever but I really think that it's bullshit that you two are standing in front us like you are some kind of fucking MINDFREAK Gestapo's or some crazy shit… I mean seriously. You can't honestly sit here and tell me that Criss is going to base his decision on whether we stay or go home based upon your options.. I mean look at you two! You've got his face plastered between your tits!" Andrea snapped.

Emma bit her bottom lip and drew in a deep breath while I watched as Rayne slowly grew red in the face.

"So are you saying that you won't take part in communicating with us?" Emma questioned.

Andrea shrugged. "It's whatever. I will. I was just putting it out there. I'm sure I'm not the only one here that feels this way either."

The room grew quite for a moment until Cassie muttered, "I agree. I think it's kinda shitty."

"Yeah… me too…" Lauren sighed.

"I think it's a GOOD idea!" Kelly smiled as she stabled herself on one leg. "I think that maybe everyone is just feeling intimated right now and we all need to calm down and realize that they are here for good intentions and to help Criss out. They aren't here to bash us."

I nodded. "Yeah, come on girls."

Amelia shrugged. "How about we all talk together…"

"Good idea." Emma said. "If there are any of you who don't want to talk then you can leave."

There was another long pause and a few groans but when I looked around 9 girls still flocked around me.

"Alright then…. Kelly, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself and why you are here?" Rayne questioned as she rubbed at her temples seemed to have enough of us already.

Kelly placed a fallen hair behind her ear and began to tell them about her age and her job back home and then…. "And I have a son and I really want what is best for him…"

_A son…. What?! I didn't know she had kids? Did Criss?_

They moved on to Andrea next who seemed resistant. "I'm here for the same reason every one else is here. What to you want me to say, I was bored."

"So you were bored and you decided, ah what the hell I'll just sign up to be T.V.?" Emma laughed.

"Well nice job making an asshole out of yourself." Rayne interjected.

Andrea rolled her eyes. "An asshole out of myself? Bitch, seriously? I'm not the one dry humping Criss Angel's DVD's… at least I get the real thing."

"What did you say to me slut?!" Rayne screamed as lunged pasted me to grab onto Andrea's shirt.

Andrea tossed her arms out and shoved Rayne backwards into Emma.

"You heard me, Bitch! You keep dreamin'!"

_Obviously this was going nowhere, fast…_

* * *

My eyes scanned over the remaining 10 girls standing on the stairs and I drew in a deep breath. Rayne and Emma stood on each side of me, their faces displaying utter disgust. Was it really that bad? Were all of the girls in the house that scanty and degrading?

"Today, I had so much fun watching you all perform your songs and I had a great time on our date. You all look wonderful tonight by the way. But I actually have another surprise in store for you. During the past week there has been an open poll vote online, both on my website and on VH1 for Loyals and at home viewers of the this show to vote who they think is most compatible for me and who they think is least. The reason why I brought Emma and Rayne here today was because I wanted to find out if they agreed with those poll results after having been with you all first hand. Well, oddly enough they didn't."

Rayne nodded and glanced over at me while the girls exchanged confused faces.

"Kelly, overall Rayne and I thought that you were the best the girl of the day. Maybe you aren't that great at the drums but you have a very positive attitude and we both agree that you would be a great match with Criss." Emma explained happily.

Kelly smiled widely.

"However, Melissa you were voted the online favorite. So therefore both of you girls did an excellent job. Get your asses down here!" I winked.

Once I was down to Amelia, Cassie and Andrea, Rayne decided to speak up.

"Out all three of you girls, Amelia you came in as last on online but we both decided for obvious reasons that Cassie and Andrea, you two did the overall worst today and showed us little to no respect at all and therefore we both feel as if the BOTH of you have no place whatsoever in this show at all."

My heart raced a bit as I reached for the last necklace and I narrowed my eyes towards the three nervous girls.

"Andrea… come here." I motioned.

She walked towards me seeming confident and I said, "My Loyal's opinions mean a lot to me and if you can't even speak to them in a civil manner, then you really don't have a place in life. I'm sorry but this chain is not for you tonight."

Andrea drew in a shallow breath and nodded. "It's whatever, Criss. I think their opinions suck anyhow."

She stormed off stage not bothering to say goodbye to me or the girls behind her.

I decided to send Cassie home as well seeing as how she had show just as much disrespect and lack of interaction as Andrea. Amelia… well, Amelia was just too intriguing to send home. Her green eyes still had me in a cupid's chokehold.

**Note: Thanks again for all the great comments :) keep them comming! **


	21. Mile High Club

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 19**

**Mile High Club**

"You've got to be shitting me right?!" Kelly bugged her eyes out as we all filed out of the limo and finally realized just what our challenge of the day was.

"I think I'm gonna throw up already." Lauren nervously shoved her hands into her jean pockets.

"Come on girls, this is AWESOME! It's not that bad! I've done it before." Amelia smiled widely as she glanced around for Criss.

Criss shut the door of his Lamborghini and rather giddily ran up to us across the wide dusty parking lot.

"Hey girls! Good afternoon and welcome to Vegas' Extreme Skydiving!"

Brittney loudly cleared her throat behind me and Amelia began to jump up and down with excitement.

_Maybe I shouldn't have eaten a big breakfast…_

"As each of you know, I am big risk taker and I enjoy doing once in a lifetime experiences. I really want to be with a woman who I know isn't afraid of taking chances and trying out new things. So today I have planned for each one of you to go through an educational course so that you can be instructed on how everything works from being harnessed and being on the plane and then in about 1 hour from now all of us are going to be tandem jumping off of a plane together. To tandem jump means that each one you will be securely strapped to a professional. I know that some of you are probably not too excited about this but I really want you to look at as a chance to face any fear that you may have and an opportunity for us to share a first time memory together. So come on and follow me…" Criss headed off towards the large building dragging us 8 behind him.

I personally had absolutely no intentions of ever skydiving in my entire life. It definitely was not something that was on my bucket list. I wasn't necessarily afraid of heights but I wasn't that found of them either. My stomach churned nervously was we all were instructed at the front desk to fill out paper work that included photocopies of our drivers license, information on emergency family contacts and insurance companies. So, that pretty lead me to believe that I was jumping at my risk of death… _nice_…

After we had all signed, dated and turned in our seemingly endless pre jump documentation packages and liability wavers, we were moved into a separate room where we met our tandem experts who were going to be attached to us during the jump. They provided us with jumpsuits, goggles, a harness and soft helmets and as we all geared up they explained to us what to expect.

"The plane is going to be flying approximately 3 miles up in elevation. Once we have reached the drop zone, your partner will then escort you to the ledge of the plane and nearly 45 seconds after your free fall, they will release your parachute. You are connected to your tandem partner by 4 main lines. These lines are capable of holding up to 5,000 pounds. Your main free fall speed is about 140 miles per hour." Lisa's instructor explained to us as he double checked her harness.

Criss wrapped his arm around Kelly who looked like all of the blood had been sucked out of her cheeks. "It's gonna be alright sweetheart." He kissed her cheek reassuringly. "You can do this!"

Kelly's head shook and she quietly muttered, "140 miles per hour?"

Criss laughed a bit. "Piece of cake."

"Maybe it will put your ankle back in place…" Krystal joked.

Brad, my instructor, who was standing behind me caught wind of their conversation and asked me, "Is someone here hurt?"

I bit my lip. "Kelly has a sprained ankle…"

Brad narrowed his blue eyes over towards her and replied, "Then she's not able to jump. I don't want her to land wrong and knock it out of place."

I nodded, secretly envying Kelly's injury.

Once we had all boarded the plane (minus Kelly) we were securely fastened to our instructors and that's when my nervous really began to kick in. Criss sat across from me attached to a younger man named Justin with spiky blonde hair who liked he was ready for an afternoon nap.

"Have you done this before?" I questioned as I felt my ears popping against the changing altitude.

Criss nodded. "Yeah, I'm one jump away from being able to do it on my own."

"Impressive. I can't lie… this isn't something I never thought I'd ever see myself doing." I giggled uneasily.

He reached over and took hold of my hand. "You have to take chances in life and face fears. That's what living is about or you'd never feel fully alive."

"I suppose you're right, Criss…" I smiled sheepishly as I heard the pilot announce that we were ready to jump.

Amelia decided that she'd do the honors of jumping off of the plane first since no one else was really taking charge and she had past experience. Before she made her out she gave Criss a passionate kiss and whispered, "I'll see you on the ground baby."

"Mmm, can't wait." Criss ran his hand down her backend and gave it a gentle squeeze.

_Fucking bitch. Hopefully, he'll see you flat on the ground…_

"Peace out bitches!" Amelia flipped us the bird as she jumped, her instructor shaking his head at her punk-rock attitude. Criss on the other hand grinned widely and clapped.

"Who's next?" He questioned while he looked us over.

Emily dove out next with her eyes shut and her arms outstretched like a bird, followed by Lisa who let the loudest scream possible even her instructor cover his ears.

"Are you ready?" Brad questioned over to me.

"As I'll ever be, I guess." I sighed as we made our way to the ledge of the plane.

"You can do it Melissa, I'll be right behind you!" Criss reassured.

"I'm trusting you on that one babe!" I shouted before I leapt off, holding my breath and my stomach.

* * *

My mind wondered as gazed out through the billowing clouds and suddenly it seemed as if I was coming to a long lost epiphany of some sort. I wasn't sure if it was because of the fact that finally for once in the past month deprived adrenaline was beating through my veins again or because I had been blind the entire time… but it finally all made sense now. As my body soared through the air above Las Vegas I had come to the conclusion that for once in my life I was ready to fall in love. I was no longer concerned about how I looked on national T.V. or who was dating who or how attractive my next casually encounter was. I was ready to give it my all. All of the sudden this VH1 show didn't seem like such bullshit anymore or such a massive waste of my time. Maybe there really could be a girl in it that was for me who could potentially be a part of my future now that I knew that I was ready for one… and honestly I think I already knew a few I was falling in love with.

I met the girls back on the ground and most of them were already disconnected from their partners. As Justin unhooked my harness I spotted Kelly limping her way over to us out of the corner of my eye.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I questioned shocked to see that she wasn't back at the main building still.

"I wanted to make sure that you landed safely! I had the bus driver give me a lift." She replied.

"Aw, Kelly… that is so sweet of you hunny. You really didn't need to do all that." I pulled her into a tight hug, slightly lifting her feet off of the desert ground.

"I don't want you to think that just because they said that I couldn't jump and I was scarred that I wouldn't have. I would do anything for you. I mean that. I'm falling in love with you Criss." Tears whelmed up in her blue eyes and I felt her hands rubbing at my back.

It took me a moment to reply. I wasn't too sure if I should be honest with my feelings for her just yet. I didn't want her to go blabbing them off to the other girls and have them feel down and out about their position with me next to her. So… I decided to the old alternative move.

"Come here," I pulled her in towards my lips and she accepted without any delay. Once we pulled away I whispered, "I think you're amazing and what did today was great. Thanks for being honest with me."

She went to say something but Emily interrupted us by running up behind me and wrapping her arms around my waist. "Oh my God Criss, that was sooo much fun!" She cheered.

"Glad you enjoyed it." I smiled as I watched Kelly hobble over towards Melissa and Lisa who were making their way to the bus.

"Come on, let's get going… I've got another plan for tonight." I told Emily as we walked hand in hand together.

When we all arrived back at the main building I decided to announce who I was going to take out that night. It wasn't hard for me to decide at all. The four girls who I'd be eating dinner with was, Amelia, Kelly, Melissa and Emily. The other 4 were going to be serving us…

**NOTE: I HAVE NEVER BEEN SKYDIVING NOR DO I REALLY INTEND TO, SO THIS CHAP WAS BASED ON INFORMATION FROM THE LAS VEGAS EXTREME SKYDIVING WEBSITE, IM SRY IF I GOT ANYTHING WRONG. LOL! HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAP, AS ALWAYS PLZ REVIEW! THANKS!!! **

**ALWAYS, DEPPDEPENDANT**


	22. Hell's Kitchen

**Blurred Reality **

**Hell's Kitchen**

**Chap. 20**

Emily sat across from me at the quaint dinner table. She was chatting Criss's ear off about her job back home where she worked as a full time receptionist for a physical therapist. She was drowning on and on about her staff members and crazy clients that she had to deal with and how much she was happy that the show had given her an opportunity to get away from it all. Kelly sat on the right had side on me with her leg propped on up on an empty booth space. Her eyes were fixed on her wine glass and I could tell that she was just as bored with Emily as I was.

Somehow Criss had managed to pull a few strings with the Tender restaurant inside of the Luxor. The rest of the girls were going to be both taking our orders and helping to cook our food. To be up front, this made me more than nervous. The last thing I needed was to swallow back some kind of poison from one of these bitches.

Krystal came walking towards with her hair pulled slickly back into a high bun and a note pad in her hand.

"Hello, welcome to Tender, my name is Krystal… can start you off with any drinks tonight?" She questioned smoothly.

Amelia grinned trying not to laugh and Criss winked over at Krystal.

"Go ahead ladies first." Criss signaled toward us.

"I'll have a glass of your house wine and a water." Kelly said.

"You know I want a long island, Krys." Amelia giggled.

"Just give me a water with lemon, thanks." I smiled politely.

_Water seemed safe, that way I could see if anything was in it… _

"Captain and coke, love. And a water." Criss told her as she penned everything down.

"Alright, I'll be right back." Krystal headed off.

Criss stretched his arms out around Amelia and Emily as he drew in a breath. "Did you all have fun today?"

"I had a blast!" Amelia kissed his cheek.

Emily bit her bottom lip. "I thought I was gonna piss my pants there for a moment, Criss. But in the end it was awesome!"

I nodded in agreement. "It was great. Well worth the piss."

We all shared a chuckle and Kelly whined, "I wish I could have joined in…. fucking leg."

"It's alright Kel, I know you wanted to be there." Criss assured.

Before he could add anything Amelia joked, "To make up for it us girls are going to have you scuba diving with sharks when you get better!"

"Screw that, don't give this man anymore ideas!" Kelly laughed.

Krystal returned with our drinks and told us that our waitress would be with us shortly.

"I wonder who is serving us?" Emily pondered.

"I couldn't tell you…" Criss shrugged slyly. "Hey, Melissa… you're quiet over there, are you alright?"

I nodded a little too dramatically. "I'm fine. Just thinking about things."

"She's always the serious one." Emily shook her head and added, "Always over thinking."

"Hey, at least she's not under thinking like some of the girls here I know…" Amelia sighed as she glanced over at Kelly.

Kelly caught wind of it and narrowed her eyes at her. "Are you implying something about me?"

Amelia rolled her eyes sarcastically, "Noooo of course not…"

Criss shut his eyes for a moment and ran a hand through his hair. "Where is our waitress by the way?" He questioned out of the blue trying to sidetrack the girls conversation.

They ignored him and continued, "Seriously Amelia if you have shit say about me then just say it."

Amelia cleared her throat and paused for a moment seeming to decided whether or not she should start the drama. "Fine, I just think that it is bullshit that you haven't told Criss about the fact that you have a son."

Criss nearly dropped his drink on his lap and half choked. "Wait, what's going here?"

"Are you ready to order?" Lisa questioned as she came up to the table looking like she about to throw up.

Criss, Amelia and Kelly were still going at it so I calming told her it would just a moment and to return in about 5 minutes.

"Okay…" Lisa mouthed as she watched Kelly's face turn bright red and Criss shake his head in half-doubt at Amelia.

"Is what she said true?" Criss asked her.

Emily decided to answer for her instead, "Yeah, it is. She said that to us the other night. She said it in front of your Loyals."

Criss glanced at me for further acknowledgement and I nodded. "Yeah, she did."

Kelly moved around nervously in her seat and released a shaky breath. "It's true, yes. I have a son. He is two years old. I wanted to wait until I had the opportune moment to tell you but I guess that is obviously shot down hell."

Criss bit at his nails for moment and there was a long heavy silence between us all until he replied, "Kelly, I want to talk about this alone with you later. Let's just concentrate on ordering, where is she anyway?"

I nearly laughed.

Lisa had obviously never had a job in food service before because everything we ordered she got completely backwards. On top of that she kept having Krystal re-fill everything and had her help her bring out our food. Which our food was ridiculous. My chicken alfredo had no chicken, Kelly's filet mignon was supposed to be medium rare but was still bleeding and practically mooing, Amelia's mashed potatoes had suddenly morphed into French fries and Emily had water spilled down her lap. But miraculously enough Criss had nothing wrong with his meal at all. _Hmmm… I wonder why that was? _

* * *

When I got back to my suite I made it a point to invite Kelly back to room. I needed to know what in the hell was going on with her and why she felt like it was necessary to keep such a huge secret from me.

"Go ahead, sit down." I signaled for her to have a seat on my couch.

She hesitantly took a seat and I plopped down next her.

"So obviously we need to talk… why in the hell did you hide that from me?" I questioned as I watched her fidget with the yellow bow tie that was in her hair.

"To be honest, I just didn't want it to deter you from wanting to be with me. I know that sounds ridiculous but that is pretty much the main reason as to why I am still single. No man really wants to take on the baggage of a 2 year old who isn't theirs. I just figured that maybe if you got to know me for me first and then I brought it to your attention that it wouldn't seem like so much of load at once." She explained.

I could understand where she was coming from…

"I can see your point. I just wish that you would have brought it up sooner. Your son is a part of you and a big part of your life. How am I supposed to know who you really are without knowing about him?"

Kelly sniffed back tears and nodded. "I know. I'm just tired of this… I'm tired of trying to make things work out with men and this always getting in the way. It's not fair to him or to me. I also didn't want you to think that I was just here because I needed someone to take care of my child."

"I know that. You're very independent. I would never stick that on you. I'm not closed minded when it comes to children, Kelly. Just because you have a son doesn't mean that I am going to write off a chance with you. I think that you and I have a great possibility of making it work together. Please, don't think that I am like the rest of the men you have been dating." I wrapped my arm around her and she buried her head inside of my chest.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for not telling you about it sooner." She mumbled. "His name is Mathew by the way."

~*~

8 girls and only 7 necklaces. Who was going to home now? That was the question running through my mind. These eliminations just kept getting harder and harder. I really had no idea who to send home. It came down to Lisa, Lauren and Brittney. I decided to send Lauren home. I could only fake a connection with her for so much longer. She was a sweet girl but for some reason things just weren't moving along fast enough between us. Maybe I should have sent Lisa home for being such a god awful waitress but damn her legs look sexy that dress…

"Criss… can I talk to you for a second?" Melissa pulled me aside after elimination. My eyes slide into hers and I could tell that she was worried about something.

"Of course, are you alright?" I asked seriously as I grabbed her elbows.

She shook her head 'no' and suddenly the tears instantly rolled down her cheeks.


	23. A Kleenex Affair

**Blurred Reality **

**Chap. 21**

**A Kleenex Affair**

Criss reassuring placed his hand on my shoulder and waited patiently for me to respond.

"No… My boss just left me a voicemail… he told me that I can no longer extend my vacation time and if I don't return by the end of this weekend that I will be terminated."

The room was silent for a moment besides my sniffles and the camera man trying to catch a better angle of the two of us.

Criss tightened his grip on my shoulder and shook his head sympathetically, "That's horrible, have you tried to reason with him?"

I nodded as I wiped at my tears. "He's an asshole. I had to pull teeth just to get leave to come here… to be honest, I never really expected to stay here as long as I have. I only told my boss that I'd be taking off two weeks and it's already been a month. I think he's well past reasoning with me."

Biting his bottom lip he replied, "I see…"

I glanced around the room thinking over my options and drew in a deep breath.

"Come on, cheer up. We'll figure this out." Criss wrapped his arm my waist and directed me out of the theater.

"You're NOT leaving me."

"But, I do need a job… as much as I hate it there and as much as I love it here with you, I have bills to pay. I can't go back home jobless." I rambled as we entered the elevator alone.

Criss shot me a pathetic glance and I wish I could have retracted my last sentence.

"It's up to you what you do. I'm not going to hold you hostage. I understand the reality of the situation and I'm sorry for sounding selfish. I just really wish you'd stay."

Aggravated I leaned my head against the side of the elevator and rubbed at my forehead, "The choice isn't that simple… how do I know it's worth even staying?"

"Why would I be begging you to stay if I didn't think it was worth it for you in the end?" Criss leaned in closer towards me and ran his hand through my hair.

My eyes leveled with his for a moment and I felt my heart skip a thump.

"Criss?" I nearly whispered.

"Hmmm?" His lips inched closer to mine and felt his hand dig a little deeper inside of my hair.

The elevator opened and the moment I was about to speak and Brittney suddenly injected, "CRISS! There you are! Come, here babe… you've gotta check this out!" from outside her room.

"I'll be there in a sec, Brit." He shouted back as we peeled away from each other.

"I'm sorry. What were you saying?" He questioned over to me as we stepped out into the hallway.

"Nothing, never mind." I shrugged.

_Just that I'm falling in love with you…_

The alarm clock read well passed midnight and I was still left tossing and turning over my decision upon whether or not I was going to stay or return to my job back home in Indiana. I wasn't too sure what the right answer or what the right offer was at that moment in time. I knew that things between Criss and I were starting to develop into something well past a friendship and that if I were to stay in the show that there could be a possibility of me at least being in the final 5 or maybe even the final 3 women left but without a secure answer could I really risk the life and support I had back at home? Most of the other women in the show were either dead beats with dead end jobs and no real education and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that that was the reason why they wanted to land a celebrity in the first place.

Letting out a rather dramatic sigh I beat my fist into the pillow.

_Logic or irrational emotions? _

_Brain or Heart?_

_Money or Love?_

… _shut the hell up and go to sleep already!_

Either I had punched my pillow too hard and it hit me back or I heard a knock on the door. I couldn't be too sure at that moment in time since my sanity was being second guessed.

The light knocking noise returned and so I happily ruled the pillow theory out. I figured it would be Kelly at the door probably wanting to borrow something or one of the girls drunk off their ass again. Honestly, I wasn't in the mood for their bullshit.

* * *

_Oh, to have the simple life of a cat. Eat, sleep, shit. How profound._

Hammy snuggled close into my chest as I gazed up at the ceiling in random thought. I should have been sleeping 2 hours ago but my mind was stuck in overdrive. It had been one hell of a crazy day. All I could think about was Melissa. Why had she only planned on staying here for 2 weeks in the first place? What if she did choose to come back home due to her job? Why did I really care so damned much when I had 6 other girls lined up "just as good" as she was? Hammy stretched his paw outward and batted at my chin.

_Why did I care… and did she even really care about me? _I needed to find this out.

I stood outside of her hotel room door a bit nervously trying to fight back the inclination to knock once I had realized that it was in fact 1am. Then I figured that since I had already made it that far in my journey that there was no reason to waste it. If she was asleep then she probably wouldn't hear the knock… so I'd just knock lightly… _yeah… lightly_.

Right as I about to sheepishly turn around the door opened a crack. Then a crack wider.

"Criss?" Melissa seemed to question more than greet me as she looked me over a bit.

Not too sure how to take that I half smiled and replied, "Hey, sorry if I woke you up."

"No, not really. I couldn't sleep anyway." She grumbled as she attempted to adjust her bed head, which in all honesty wasn't too unflattering. "Did you want to come in or something?"

"Actually, that would be great… if you don't mind?" I replied as she signaled for me head inside of her room.

"No, not at all. What's up?" She questioned curiously as I watched her flip on the main bedroom light and take a seat on her disheveled bed.

My feet paced around the room a moment before I sat down next to her. "Actually, I couldn't sleep either. To be 100% honest with you all I could think about was the possibility of you leaving…"

Melissa bit down on her thumb nail and nodded her head slowly. "Yeah, me too."

"I just don't understand why in the hell you only planned on staying here for 2 weeks to begin with you knew that the show was for a 2 to 3 month duration?" I tossed out bluntly.

"Well, I knew that there was going to be 20 girls in this house Criss. I'm not the hottest thing out there. Give me a break, ya' know. Plus, I knew that if I just walked up to my boss and said that I distinctly needed 2 months off he would have probably denied me that on the spot." She tried to chuckled a bit to ease the tension between us.

Drawing in a deep breath I replied, "I suppose I can understand the work aspect of that response but you are beautiful and obviously you've already blown 13 girls out of the park, so that part is still a little hazy to me."

Melissa rolled her eyes a bit and began to fidget with the draw string on her flannel pajama pants. "I guess."

"I just wanted to make sure that you're here for the right reasons and that you didn't just want to come here for the hell of it."

Her eyebrows furrowed after that comment and she cleared her throat. "Oh please, the _right reasons_… I can't believe you knocked on my door at 1am to ask me that! If that's the case then there are a hand full of other girls here who you should be interrogating, not me."

"I didn't come here to interrogate you at all. If anything I came here to make sure that you that you make the right choice." I retorted sharply.

"Right choice?" She squinted. "Is there a such thing? I don't want to leave Criss. I want to stay here with you… but logic is telling me that-"

"Logic means nothing if you love someone… if you don't have feelings for me Melissa then the choice should be easy." I explained as I wrapped my arm her waist.

She sniffed a bit and rested her forehead against my shoulder. "That's the problem… I do."

My heart thudded around in my chest and I knew if someone didn't make a move soon I was going to rip my own fucking hair out.

I felt a warm tear hit my shoulder and it took me a moment to respond. I hate seeing women cry more than anything.

"It's okay. We'll figure it out. Don't worry." I rambled helplessly as I thumbed away her tears.

"Yeah… I'm sorry." She sniffled, her grayish blue eyes staring deeply into mine. "I just, I-I think, well I know… I'm falling in love with you."

I swallowed hard, trying hard not show how smitten I was. "Then, the choice should be easy." I smiled as I pulled her in for a passionate kiss.

She accepted her entire body melting on top of mine with desire. She pinned me down underneath her and rather playfully whispered, "Wanna call work for me?"

I smirked as I brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "Only if you kiss me like that again."

When I left Melissa's room it was about a quarter to 3am. Right as I was entering my suite I noticed that there was piece of folded paper slid underneath my door. My eyes narrowed in curiosity as I read over it.

**CRISS, THIS ISN'T **_**FOR THE LOVE OF RAY J**_**, BUT SOMEONE HERE DIFF. SMASHED A HOMMIE! CHECK OUT THIS MYSPACE LINK **** IT WILL EXPLAIN EVERTHING!!!**

**-LOTS OF LOVE, KRYSTAL- **

_What the fuck… seriously… now what?_

**SORRY THIS HAS TAKEN ME SOOOO LONG TO UPDATE!!! I'VE BEEN SUPER BUSY LATELY! HOPE TO GET MORE UPDATES UP SOON. OF COURSE, PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! **

**Always,**

**Deppdependant**


	24. 52 Card Pile Up

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 22**

**52 Card Pile Up**

The next afternoon we were all told to meet down in the Casino area by noon. None of us had any clue or hints as to what our challenge or activity of the day was so we all decided to dress casually. Amelia glanced at the time on her cell phone as we all took random seats at the slot machines.

"Hmmm… it's going on 12:30... I wonder what's taking Criss?" She noted with a worried look on her face.

Kelly shrugged as she placed another dollar in the penny machine she was sitting at. "Really, it's been that long? Fucking Gem Hunter here is eating all my money!"

I smirked and patted her on the back, "You know you DON'T have to keep on playing!"

Kelly rolled her eyes as she hit the LINE button again. "I'm not moving til' Criss gets here or until this Mr. Gem Hunter dude pays me back my $5.00."

"Good luck on that Kelly!" Krystal laughed. "I'm sure that Criss just had a long night or something." Her tone seemed somewhat sarcastic.

"Probably." I grinned.

_Long night with me! Ha ha ha!_

Criss finally showed up by our slots at around 1pm. He looked dead tired when did. He wasn't even wearing any of his usual jewelry and his hair kind of looked like some avant-garde style gone wrong.

"Hey girls, I apologize a million times for running so late today. I was up all night last night trying get a few personal things straightened out and I was just on the phone with some management for MindFreak, which I didn't expect to take me over an hour. I'm so sorry to leave you all here waiting for me." He explained.

"It's okay… you just have to kiss us all and make it better!" Emily winked with a cute smile.

Criss grinned at her comment. "Gladly! I can arrange that! Well, You all are probably wondering why you were told to meet me here in the casino right?"

We all nodded, and Kelly clapped as she cashed out of Gem Hunter.

_She won $6.03... Wow!!!_

"Well, today…" Criss paused seeming a little hesitant. "Today, you all will be joining me in the casino to perform a few magic tricks. Only catch is YOU will be the ones performing and I'll be spectating."

I bit my lip… _was he kidding__me?_

Needless to say, we all were going to suck. The Luxor was known for being home to the World's greatest Magician, like these people actually wanted to give us the time of day. If anything I think they thought that we were all a little mentally slow. We were each supplied with a deck of cards, a piece of string, a bandana and a quarter. I had no idea how to do a quarter trick. So I ruled that one out. String? _What in the hell…_

Emily made her way off to a group of middle-aged women playing Black Jack and I watched as she attempted to ask them if she could show them "something". They hemmed and hawed a bit until they finally agreed. Emily smiled and nervously pulled the deck of cards out.

"Pick a card…" She instructed. "Any card."

The woman both agreed on a card and one placed it back in the deck and Emily shuffled it a few times.

"Is the King of Clubs your card?" She asked curiously.

The women grinned over at each other. "Yeah, it is. Good job honey."

After Kelly had successfully pulled a quarter out of a old mans ear and Amelia had somehow managed to make a one dollar bill turn into a 5. I decided that I should probably give it a go. _What was the worst that could happen?_

I decided to do an easy trick that I remembered from watching MindFreak. I just needed to find someone who smoked. I made my way through the casino spotting over a dozen smokers in my path but no one seemed friendly enough. I finally settled on a man in his early to mid 20's who was playing a Wheel of Fortune slot.

"Excuse me…" I smiled as I took a seat next him. "But, do you mind if I show you something?"

"Depends…" He smirked with a chuckled, his green eyes leveling my body.

"Actually, it's a magic trick." I replied somewhat catty.

"A magic trick… hmmm… alright…" He paused. "What is this for?"

"For T.V." I grinned. "I'm in a competition."

"I see. Go ahead. No one could be worse than Criss Angel. That shit is so fake." He grunted a bit as he cashed out his slot.

_Okay, so maybe this guy wasn't as nice as he looked._

"Do you watch him a lot?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, I used to when he first came out. It's all bullshit. I mean come on, now. I can levitate on wires too." He rolled his eyes.

"He doesn't use wires…" An man in a giant cowboy hat and a green striped sweater injected from behind us. "If he used wires you'd be able to see them!"

"Thank you," I smiled over at the cowboy and he returned to his slot. "I think he's a good magician. The best actually." I placed my hands on my hips in defense.

"Ha! Whatever, you better find another magician to be your hero hunny. He's so sold out he's gone Bret Michael's and got a fuckin' reality show!" He cracked up as he took another drag of his cigarette. "Anyhow what was that trick?"

My eyes narrowed angrily into his as I pulled my hands out of my jean pockets. "Ever seen a bird fly?"

He nodded seeming confused.

"Bet you didn't think I had to two in my pockets!" I flicked him off with both hands. "I am on that reality show you pompous asshole!"

* * *

These girls were cracking me up. I walked around the casino incognito watching each of them making complete fools out of themselves. Although, me being incognito was pretty foolish within itself. I had on this ridiculous sweater that made me look like I was 65, rimmed glasses and a damned cowboy hat. _Who looked more like an idiot, I wasn't too sure…_

"Oh, wait… you were thinking of the number 12 right?" Lisa question a women who seemed to be growing impatient with her.

"No… not even close."

Lisa sighed and drew in a deep breath. "Ummm… it's coming to me, hold on. 25!"

The woman began to get up from her table and shake her head a bit.

_The number was 47. I knew it._

I walked over to Lisa and coughed the number.

"Criss?" She nearly doubled over in laughter.

"Shhh…. The name's Rodger, doll." I winked behind my obnoxious glasses.

She nodded slowly. "Riiight, Rodger…. Sexy sweater. What are you doin' later on?" She joked.

My eyebrows raised as I pulled her in towards me. "You know the usual, scrubbing my dentures and then bailing some hay."

Lisa smirked. "Cri-Rodger, you are a hilarious!"

"Hey, do me a favor and tell the other girls that magic times over. I've got another challenge tonight. Meet me up in the theater at 6pm sharp." I instructed.

"Ok babe, hey thanks for the number by the way… what number am I thinking of?" She questioned playfully.

"Between 1-100?" I smirked.

"Yes." She returned as her cheeks reddened.

I paused and tapped my foot. "69! You naughty girl!"

Lisa tugged at my hat and whispered, "Oh, you have no idea…"

The girls all filed inside of theater chatting amongst themselves about the fact that there were two challenges. Little did they know I didn't have a challenge planned at all. Instead, there was going to be an emergency elimination.


	25. To Smash or Be Smashed?

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 23**

**To Smash or Be Smashed?**

I watched as the girls entered the theater giggling amongst themselves. Their smiles instantly flattened the moment their eyes caught sight of the elimination display that was set out behind me on stage.

"_What in the hell…." _I heard Kelly whisper as she and Melissa made their way closer.

"Do we… need to get on stage?" Amelia hollered over to me seeming sarcastic.

I nodded, "Uh-huh, everyone just line up as you usually would. I'll explain what's going on in minute."

The room filled with chatter and mixed emotions as the girls made their up to the stage. It took me a moment to interrupt all their ruckus.

"Okay girls, first off I would like to tell you all that you did a fairly impressive job at entraining me in the casino. However, I'm not too sure how many of you accomplished mindfreaketting the crowd so to speak." I chuckled.

A few of the girls smirked and I think I heard Melissa groan.

"As you all know magic is definitely a VERY important part of my life. It does take a little bit of so called "magic" to keep the sparks flying in a relationship. Despite the fact that a hand full of you were on top things today, right now I'm getting the feeling that some of you girls aren't playing your cards right with me. So, right now there isn't going to be a challenge, instead I've decided to hold an emergency elimination. The only challenge is to be honest with me and if you're not- there's the door." I gestured to the door sarcastically and the girls froze.

"However there is still a challenge winner… Amelia, come here." I smiled towards her. She practically knocked over Lisa in her venture off of the stairs.

"First off, you shocked me in the casino with your trick! I was impressed with the effort and amount of creativity you put into it. Second, will continue to stay here and go out on a romantic dinner with me tonight?" I questioned as I held out her chain.

Her lips curved into a sinful grin. "Mmm… of course I will!"

Once Amelia had settled herself back into the group I continued.

"This next chain is for number '69'..." I laughed as my eyes locked with Lisa.

She blushed a bit and replied, "Alright, simmer down now, Rodger!"

The last three who were left standing where Melissa, Krystal and Brittney. And I knew exactly who I was going to send packing.

"Melissa," I began.

She walked up to me before I could even finish, her eyes dead set into mine.

"Save it…" She muttered. "I know I did horrible with the challenge."

"Actually, you did pretty well for what kind of an asshole you had to deal with." I replied.

She just shrugged looking nervous.

"The choice is yours are you staying?" I questioned somewhat pathetically.

There was a long pause until she reached down for the necklace in my hand.

"Yes."

"I think you made the right decision." I grinned as I pulled her in for a tight hug. "By the way, I called your office this morning." I added in whisper.

Krystal and Brittney anxiously starred back at me while I tried to conjure up the right wording to delicately address the topic at hand.

"There really wasn't anything wrong with how either one of you performed at the challenge today. The reason as to why both of you stand before me tonight is because the two of you have been hiding crucial information about your past. Krystal, last night you decided to tip me off on the fact that Brittney had slept with my cousin George-"

I was interrupted by the girls exasperated gasps.

"When in retrospect, upon investigating BOTH of your Myspace's, you haven't been up front me about the fact that you're still legally married!"

A few cusses spilled out from girls.

"I'm NOT married, I'm separated. Neither of us have signed the papers yet, big deal." Krystal shrugged with a sigh.

Brittney's cheeks were on fire with embarrassment. "I-I, well, George and I… sorry… I guess I should have told you. But what the fuck Krystal, I can't fucking believe you!"

"Believe me?! You had the nerve to BRAG about it to me!" Krystal folded her arms in defense. "Who BRAGS about fucking someone's LESS hotter cousin anyhow?"

"Shut up you dirty bitch! You're the trash that is STILL married!" Brittney pointed her finger deep in her chest.

Krystal rolled her eyes, sticking her hand up in Brittney's face. "Whatever hoe, keep on smashing the hommies!"

_Oh, shit… now the true colors show._

"There's no reason to fight, you're both going home." I shook my head discussed in the two of them.

"Are you kidding me?" Krystal gasped. "You're joking right?!"

"He's NOT joking, dumbass! Obviously he doesn't like married women." Emily interjected from behind her.

Brittney laughed as she headed off stage.

"What are laughing at slut?" Krystal yelled at her.

"Just you… you're unbelievable…"

I sat across from Amelia at dinner forking my rice. _Man, I was stuffed._ Seriously, if I ate another bite I was going explode.

"So, tonight was insane." Amelia commented as we watched the waitress clear away our dishes.

"Yeah, a little too insane for my liking." I half laughed.

"Were you really going to send both of them home?" She asked curiously.

I shook my head, "Not until they started fighting like that. I don't want to be with someone who is going to be chasing me around with a kitchen knife."

"I used to date this guy who had a bad temper. He'd throw a tantrum over the stupidest little things. I like things to be easy going and laid back. No sense in arguing all the time." She told me while she fidgeted a bit with her lip ring.

"I agree. So tell me Amelia, what is the craziest thing you've ever done?" I asked curiously as I set my plate to the side of the table.

She smirked seeming to think a bit. "Craziest thing ever…. that's a hard question… probably sneaking my dad's car out and crashing it when I was 15, then trying to flea the scene." She paused to laugh. "Let's just say I didn't get very far."

I chuckled, "You TRIED to flea the scene?"

She nodded seeming embarrassed. "Yeah, me and my friend were so scared that our parents weren't ever going to let us see each other again so we decided that was more important at the time than telling the truth, I guess. You know young and dumb. So we came up with this plot that when we had gotten home off the bus that his car was just magically gone…. Key's and all. Only problem was that we crashed the car at the end of my subdivision!" She cracked up and I joined in.

"What the hell did you crash into?" I asked as our waitress refilled her wine.

"Actually, my neighbor's pit-bull ran out in front of the car and since it was winter at the time I slammed on the brakes so hard we fish-tailed into the stop sign."

"Nice job! Ah Ha! That's so classic!" I laughed. "The dog wasn't hurt?"

Amelia shook her head. "Nah, he was fine but my dad beat my ass!"

"No doubt. I'm sure of it."

"I would ask you the same question… but I'm sure your answer is probably harder to search for." She winked.

I winked back. "Actually, this show is the craziest."

"Really, not hanging off of a helicopter from hooks or catching yourself on fire?" She joked.

"No, this takes the cake for crazy…" I replied as I took a sip of my wine.

"Good crazy or bad crazy?" She questioned seriously.

"Tonight with you it's _excellent _crazy." I smiled widely and reached out for her hand.

"Hmmm… well then, hopefully we can be crazy together more often?" Her fingers looped against mine and I noticed that her eyes seemed greener than usual.

"I certainly hope so." I replied honestly.

"So, I have a serious question to ask you." She began a bit uneasy. "Are you falling for any of the girls on the show?"

I bit my lip and drew in a deep breath. "Yes, I am. We're down to the final 5 now, I believe that I'm falling for each one of you."

Amelia narrowed her eyes at me. "So… let's say if I didn't tell that I was MADLY in love with you by tomorrow night, would you eliminate me?"

"No… I don't think so… I mean… what?" I laughed a bit confused by her question.

"I guess what I am trying to say more or less, is that I am falling for you more and more each day Criss. But I don't want to be like some of the other girls here and throw my heart out on the line and have it smashed by a single elimination night nor do I want to speak the "L" word too soon and freak you out or have you feel like I am just saying that shit because I'm competing against so many other girls to win you over. I want it to be real between us." She explained.

I nearly stuttered when I went to reply, "Y-yeah, I couldn't agree more, Amelia. When the time's right, its right. Thank you for telling me how you feel. To be honest with you I don't think you have to worry about an elimination smashing your heart anytime soon, babe."

Her hand squeezed tighter against mine and I smiled contently.

_Maybe there really was a lot more to Amelia than just friendship…_


	26. Ex's and Oh No's

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 24**

**Ex's and Oh… No's**

Kelly laid her head on my shoulder complaining of a migraine as we both sat outside by pool.

"Did you take any Tylenol?" I questioned as I patted her blonde hair.

She nodded slowly, adjusting her sunglasses. "Yeah. I'll be alright. Hey, what do you think today's challenge is going to be?"

I shrugged causing her to lift her head. "I have no idea. I hope something better than yesterday though."

Kelly laughed and we both watched as Emily and Amelia dried off from taking a quick swim.

"Psh, me too, that like totally sucked."

"Where did Lisa go?" I wondered as I glanced around the pool.

Kelly laid down on the lawn chair giving into her headache. "I don't know."

"Criss is gonna be here in like 10 seconds so she needs to hurry her ass up with whatever she's doing." I pointed out.

"Probably putting together another fashion flop knowing that girl." Kelly giggled.

I joined in. "Maybe cheetah print with rainbow ruffles today!"

Criss arrived at the Luxor poolside at around 3pm sharp looking a lot more rested than he had the day before.

"Good afternoon girls!" He squinted a bit in the sun. "How's everyone doing… hold up a sec' where's Lisa?"

Amelia held out her hands and replied, "No one's seen her since this morning."

I nodded in a agreement and Kelly whispered, "Sucks to be her."

Criss tapped his foot and glanced around for a moment. "Hmmm… that's not like her to be late. I'll have to go check on her in a moment."

"PLEASE, don't tell me we're doing more magic today!" Emily joked as she wrapped her towel tighter against herself.

Criss chuckled, "No more magic hun, I promise. What we are doing today is a surprise. I need all of you to get dressed and be ready to head out of here in an hour."

"Where are we going?" I questioned curiously.

Criss smirked. "You'll find out soon enough, I'll see you all there soon-"

Lisa rushed in behind him seeming out of breath. "I'm sooo sorry I'm late! I went to go sightseeing across the strip this morning and I got lost, THEN the shuttle on the way back broke down."

Criss raised an eyebrow at her as to evaluate her story. "It's alright. I'm just glad you're ok. The girls will fill you in on what's going on. I'll see you in an hour."

_Damn, I don't ever want to be late._

We all shared confused glances and remarks as our limo pulled up to the North Las Vegas police department. _Maybe I would rather be doing half-assed magic tricks than being there. _Once we had made our way inside the building Criss was waiting for us in the hallway.

"Glad to see you all made it safely." He smiled cutely. "As you all know unfortunately last night I had to let 2 girls go home instead of just one. That would not have happened if both of them were honest with me from the start. I really want a relationship that is based off of honesty and trust. If you can't have that foundation with someone from the beginning then you have nothing to build upon. So today, with the help of the wonderful North Las Vegas Police each one of you will be taking a lie detector test." Criss paused as all of us girls stood there in complete and utter disarray.

"I'd like you to meet Sheriff Paul Moree," Criss continued after we had all calmed down a bit and gestured to a middle aged man standing off to his left. "He will be over seeing and administering your tests. Remember, I'm not necessarily judging on your past mistakes but how much you are willing to put on the table. Best of luck ladies. I'll see you in the interrogation room."

Sherriff Moree instructed us to all have a seat in the waiting room and told us that we would each be called back alphabetically. I wasn't too sure if he meant by first name or last name, until he called Amelia first. That's when my stomach started to churn.

"I'm cool, I don't really have anything to hide." Emily shrugged next to me.

"Me either really, just still nervous." I replied as I picked at my red nail polish.

"I wonder what kind of questions he's asking?" Kelly sighed anxiously.

Lisa groaned as she rested her head against the wall. "I'm sure we'll all find out soon enough."

I hated being last. It only made the time go by slower and gave me more time to worry about what the interrogation room had in store for me. Sherriff Moree lead me down the hall into the medium sized room. Criss sat at the end of a long wooden table with a spiral note pad and pencil lad out before him.

"Go ahead and take a seat right here." Sherriff Moree pointed a chair at the opposite end of the table.

I nodded and sat down smiling over at Criss.

"Hey, you look nervous." He smirked as he adjusted he notebook.

Shrugging I sarcastically replied, "Nah, not all!"

Sheriff Moree moved swiftly beside me, wrapping and attaching tiny cords and a blood pressure cuff around me.

"Melissa, I need to you try to answer each and every question as accurately as possible with a strict 'yes' or 'no' answer. " Sherriff Moree said as he took a seat behind the polygraph machine.

"Alright." I replied.

Criss cleared his throat a bit and seemed to give the Sherriff a cue to begin.

The door opened behind me causing me to jump in my chair a bit.

Criss stood up and I turned my head around to see who had entered. Instantly my jaw dropped.

"Ryan…" I muttered dumb founded.

_Great, so not only was I hooked up to a lie detector but now I was stuck in the same room with ex-fiancé. _

Criss shook his hand and pulled up a chair for him to take a seat down next to him and I drew in a breath obviously not liking where the situation was heading.

"Hey Melissa…" Ryan awkwardly half-smiled my way.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" I questioned my words squeaking as they came out.

"Actually, I invited him. He is going to be asking you the questions, not me." Criss replied before Ryan could answer. "He is part of the challenge."

_I was fucked._

"Oh… Oh… Ok." I sighed uncomfortably. "Can… um, can we just get on with this then, no offense Criss, but Ryan and I haven't seen each other in like 3 years and this is all a bit of a shocker to me."

Ryan folded his arms against his chest and glared at me as Criss nodded in my direction.

"Yeah, go ahead Ryan…"

"Alright, first off… are you only on this show because of your insane obsession with Criss Angel?" He asked bluntly seeming as if he was annoyed.

I rolled my eyes already having enough of him. "No. Next question."

"Are you here on this show to further enhance your chances of becoming a famous poet?"

I nearly laughed at that one. "No, of course not."

Ryan ran a hand through his short blonde hair and seriously asked, "Are you falling in love with Criss?"

"Yes." I replied.

_God, these questions were easy…. Come on now._

Criss smiled my way and I winked over at him trying to block out Ryan's figure.

"Do you still have feelings for me?" Ryan broke through my thoughts of Criss and I felt my palms sweat.

"Ummm… I don't want you back."

"Yes or no answers." Sherriff Moree restated.

"Yes, I do."

* * *

My heart sunk the moment Melissa's puppy dog eyes locked with Ryan's. I knew there was still something between the two of them. There was enough damn tension the moment the man walked into the room that I could have barely sawed through it with a chain saw.

Sherriff Moree signaled over to me that she had answered positively to her last question about still having feelings for Ryan by giving me a thumbs up and I groaned a bit.

"If I had never left for the Army do you think that we would still be together?" Ryan questioned curiously.

"No." Melissa replied and I got a thumbs down.

"Out of all the girls in this show do you feel that you are the best for Criss?"

Melissa paused to think for a moment before she answered, "Yes."

That was true.

"If Criss asked you to tomorrow to marry him would you?"

"No, not yet." She laughed a bit shooting me a smile.

I smiled back. _I wouldn't ask her that tomorrow anyway._

"And my last question, does Criss know that you have been hospitalized in a psychiatric ward?"

I shot Ryan a confused glance and he just slowly nodded. Melissa viciously narrowed her eyes Ryan's way. "No… and that was shitty."

"I'm sorry, but he deserves to know everything." Ryan muttered as we both watched her eyes tear up.

"Thank you Ryan. You can leave the room now." I shook his hand again and Melissa sighed drastically as he walked out.

"Are we done?" She sniffed.

I nodded as I closed my notebook. "Yeah. You okay?"

"Yeah, I guess, you just probably think I'm horrible now." She replied pathetically as Sherriff Moree helped her out of the chair.

I shook my head. "I don't think that at all, hun. I do have a lot to think about though."

_A lot to think about _was an understatement. I made my way back out into the waiting room and found the girls anxiously sitting on the bench for the results.

"Alright ladies, to be fair today there is no challenge winner. I think that it took a lot for each one of you to do what you did today. So, all of you will be hanging out with me tonight. Be ready to hit the club by 9pm."


	27. The Best, The Worst and The Insane

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 25**

**The Best, the Worst and the Insane**

That night at least I walked into LAX actually expecting to see the girls inside. The place wasn't as packed as it had been the last time we were all there but it still was pretty full. My eyes first caught a glimpse of Kelly on the dance floor swaying back and forth rhythmically next to Lisa. Kelly looked absolutely amazing that night. She was wearing a black strapless dress that was revealing in all the right areas and had her blonde hair pulled high up into some kind of messier but still elegant looking bun. I could also tell her ankle was heeling up nicely by the high heels she had on.

"You made it… I thought you were going to stand me up…" Kelly smirked as she kissed my cheek.

I smiled rather slyly. "I would never stand you up."

"You better not." She winked.

Lisa placed a hand on my shoulder and I turned around hesitantly, trying to peel my eyes off of Kelly's dress.

"Wanna dance?" Lisa questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I'd love to." I replied as I wrapped my arms around her waist somewhat wishing that Kelly had asked me first.

"So, Lisa…" I began a bit uneasily after a few moments of dancing. "Tell me a little more about your relationship with Jacob?"

"Jacob…" She sighed. "Well, what do you want to know?"

A group of girls brushed passed us and I moved to the right. "Why you two are still living together?"

Her hands loosened on my back and she drew in a shallow breath. "We broke up about a month before I came on the show and money is tight for the both of us. I feel like we are more or less just best friends at this moment in time."

"So you don't have any feelings for him at all besides just being his friend?" I questioned curiously as we both walked off of the dance floor and I lead her up towards the VIP section so I didn't have to keep on shouting over the bass of the music.

"Yes and no." She replied honestly as we both sat down at a sectioned off VIP table. "I still love him, of course. We were together for 3 years. But would I get back together with him… probably not."

I bit my lip in thought. _I wasn't buying this shit at all._

"Hmmm…. I see…."

Once I was done questioning Lisa and had my share of her pussyfooting around the fact that she was still madly in love with Jacob I told her to send Melissa up to talk me. I knew it was of the utmost importance that I hear from each one of these girls and got their side of the polygraph results before I went with my gut feeling at elimination. The only issue I was having throughout the entire night was that they had all lied to me in one way or the other and none of the girls were disproving or back up what I was accusing them of.

Amelia had lied about the fact that she was trying to start up an all girl hardcore rock band back home and failed the question her ex asked her, which was if she had won the show would she try to get me to help discover her band. Emily had lied about having used recreational drugs which included pot, ecstasy, mescaline, and the over use of antidepressant all within the last year none the less. Lisa was obviously still living with and supporting or being supported by her ex-boyfriend Jacob. Kelly had already not been truthful about having a son, nor was his father a part of his life which lead me to believe that she was only looking for a substitute role.

And, Melissa… she still had unresolved feelings for her ex-fiancé Ryan… and had been hospitalized in a mental institution of all places.

_Who in the hell was the WORST and who was the "BEST"? I honestly had no idea what I was going to do._

Stretching my arms out behind me I drew in a deep breath and watched the bartended set down another drink for me. Melissa sat down rather hesitantly and gave me a crocked smirk.

"You look stressed." She pointed out rather matter of fact.

I nodded as I set my arms back down on the table. "Yeah, a little."

"You wanted to talk to me?" She asked as she sipped on her stone sour.

"I'm just concerned as to why you never told me you that A. were Engaged and B. was hospitalized." I tossed out honestly.

Melissa narrowed her eyes into mine somewhat defensively. "Ryan and I no longer speak to each other so what should it really matter. As for me being hospitalized that is my personal business not the worlds. I was deeply hurt and offended that he even brought that shit up on national television."

I sighed, understanding her point but still curious as to what she was hiding. "So are you saying to me that you're not going to talk about it?" I asked.

She shook her head. "What I am saying to you is that you should be reassured that NOTHING is going on between that asshole and I. And EVENTUALLY when I feel like the time is right and these cameras aren't in my face then, yes, I will tell you why I was in the hospital. However, there is no reason for you to feel as if I am insane or crazy or below standards, that was a long time ago. If anything it is part of the reason why I choose to help the mentally distraught today." She explained, once again her tone much more aggressive.

I didn't want to push the topic any further. Obviously this was something that bothered Melissa and more than likely was caused by a travesty in her life. Even though I wanted to trust her it was definitely something I needed to get to the bottom of.

The elimination room was so quiet I could hear a pin drop. I think everyone was stowing inside themselves about the results from the polygraph and wondering if it had been decent enough to keep them around for another week. Once I had made my way over to the magic box I drew in a shallow breath and half smiled.

"I hope all of you a good time at LAX tonight?"

Four smiles flashed back at me and Melissa bit her bottom lip with a look of distress on her face.

"Before I begin tonight, I want you each to know that this was one of the most difficult eliminations so far. It's becoming very difficult for me to send any of you girls home become I've really come to know and deeply care for you all." I hesitated a bit as I reached out for the first necklace.

The girls stood there anxiously waiting for me to continue as I rethought my final decision.

I called Lisa first, followed by Kelly, then Amelia.

Emily and Melissa starred back at me both with tears in their eyes and I could hardly take it anymore.

"Melissa…" I called and watched her jaw instantly drop.

Emily gasped and I heard her sniff back more tears.

Melissa walked up to me and I strongly said, "The only way you are going to be able to stay here is if you promise to me that you will tell me EVERYTHING that Ryan was talking about by the next elimination."

She stalled for a moment before replying, "I will… I promise."

**NOTE: THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! YAY! ALSO, FOR MY LUCKY 13/QUEEN OF HEART READERS, IT HAS BEEN REQUESTED BY A FEW FANS THAT I WRITE A 3RD INSTALLMENT TO THE SERIES. I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO DO IF I GET ENOUGH REQUESTS. I CREATED A POLL ON MY PROFILE, SO PLEASE VOTE "YES" OR "NO"... CURRENTLY 3 PPL ARE FOR "YES" AND 0 FOR "NO". IF I GET OVER 5-10 POSITIVE POLL VOTES, I WILL WRITE A 3RD PART TO THE SERIES A.S.A.P.!**

**Always,**

**Deppdependant**


	28. Padded Walls & Straight Jacketed Hearts

**Blurred Reality **

**Chap. 26**

**Padded Walls and Straight Jacketed Hearts**

My legs began to shake a bit as I made my way back onto the carpet next to the girls. I knew I had just promised Criss that I was going dish out all of my dirty laundry so to speak, (thanks to fucking Ryan) but in all honesty, I really wasn't too sure if I was completely ready for him to know that side of me yet. That "side" didn't even exist anymore anyway. It was old news, _she _was long gone, utterly dead in my book but unfortunately still living on in some others…

We all watched with mixed emotions as Criss booted Emily off of the show. I was more than shocked to find out that she was addicted to drugs. She always seemed "normal" but then again, what exactly is society's perception of normal? I suppose it varies from one person to the next. Actually, I thought if anyone was to be on drugs it would have been Lisa or Amelia, I guess I was wrong. Hmmm… I wonder just how shocked Criss was to hear about my past? I hope he didn't already expect it?

Upon further thought and pondering about the situation I figured that the sooner I came clean and confessed to him my reasoning for having not shared the information with him in the first place, the better my possibilities might have been for furthering my chances of sticking around another week. After eliminations I waited anxiously until the rest of the girls were off busying themselves in their rooms and somewhat sheepishly knocked on his suite door.

"Melissa?" Criss cracked the door a bit, Hammy weaving through his ankles.

"Yeah, it's me." I giggled as I watched him nudge the cat away so he could open the door wider for me to come inside.

"What's up? Come on in…" He directed.

"Ummm… not much-" I muttered as I side-stepped inside the foyer promptly realizing his lack of clothing.

"Sorry, I just got out of the shower. Excuse fashionable towel."

I half smiled nervously and followed him to the off white couch in the living room area.

"I-I ugh, I kinda wanted to talk…" I stutter awkwardly while trying to take my eyes off of his bare chest as I sat down.

Criss narrowed down at me, gripping tighter to the towel around his waist. "Talk… alright. I'm all ears. Just give me like 2 seconds to put a pair of pants on."

_You could leave them off… please…_

"I guess, but if you go over the 2 second mark, I'm ruling the pants out." I hollered as he headed into his bedroom.

"I don't think we'd TALK then!" Criss laughed as I heard a dresser drawer close.

"It COULD wait!" I _joked_. The more delays for this conversation the better.

"Alright I'm back. Sorry about that." Criss returned wearing a part of sweat pants and a plain black T-shirt.

"It's okay. I won't count it against you, THIS time." I winked playfully.

Criss chuckled. "So, what's on your mind?"

I could tell by the intense look on his face that he already knew why I was there.

"Well, I know that you've been wanting to know about everything that I've been so called hiding from you lately and I figured that the sooner I got this off of my chest the better we'd both probably feel…" I began as I chipped the last remaining dot of red nail polish off of my pointer finger.

Criss nodded. "I respect that."

"So go ahead, ask away… anything…"

It took him a moment before he questioned, "Have you spoken to Ryan since the other day?"

I nearly laughed. "Are you kidding me?! Of course not. He can get fucked."

Criss distorted his face rather comically. "I take it you don't plan on EVER talking to him again?"

"Not after what he brought up." I replied sharply. "That was really shitty and low of him."

"Were you two together when you went into the hospital?"

I shook my head 'no'. "I was in the hospital in high school. I didn't meet Ryan until college."

"I see… so what exactly were you in for?" He asked in a near whisper.

My eyes shut not wanting to see his facial expression as I replied, "Attempted suicide."

The room seemed to grow heavy with silence and the dark abyss behind my eyelids suddenly felt frightening. I knew I should have lied… I could have at least said I had OCD or something a little less sever.

"Melissa that's horrible, what caused you to want to such a thing?" Criss finally broke me from my obscurity.

"Well, I was 17 at the time. Everyone knows that age is a tumultuous point in everyone's life as it is. You know, the whole teenage angst stage… well, I was at my peak. I think it really escalated after the death of my father, he passed away in a plane crash when I was 15, but that's a whole other story within it's itself. Anyway, I decided that it would be an awesome idea to host the coolest house party while my mom and step dad where out of town. At first I had only invited my closest friends, but then they invited their friends, and their friends invited theirs and before I knew it I had half the damn high school at my school and more illegal drugs and beer kegs than I knew what to do with." I paused to nervously laugh and Criss giggled. "So, anyhow… I can't lie shit got really hazy by midnight… pretty much everyone was intoxicated and/or stoned, including myself. That's when my tool for a boyfriend at the time decided it would be a great idea to go swimming. So I grabbed my best friend Marsha and begged her to come in the pool with me." I paused starring down at Criss's knee for a moment trying to collect myself.

"She agreed saying something to me along the lines that she wasn't that great at swimming. Being the moron that I was I just ignored her…. And before I knew my boyfriend had thrown me in the pool and tossed in Marsha next. She kept on kicking and screaming for him to stop the entire time but I think he was either too drunk to pay attention or figured that she was just being prissy about the situation. The water was freezing cold since it was nearing the end of August and we still hadn't gotten to closing the pool up yet, so right after he tossed me in I climbed right on out. I assumed that Marsha would follow right after…. But, she never did… I really don't remember too much about it all after that point… I remember me trying to dive in after her once we had realized she hadn't come back up. We thought it was a joke, you know? I remember her being pretty blue in the face… I think I remember that the most… the bluish gray…" I paused for a long moment before I felt a tear roll down my cheek. "So, after Marsha passed away that's when I tried to take my own life about a week later by downing a bottle of Tylenol… which I wouldn't recommend that to anyone." I shivered, "Getting your stomach pumped is horrible pain. I suppose just felt so guilty and helpless about it all. Plus, the kids at school really weren't making it any easier on me either, they were fucking brutal about it, leaving death threats and shit on my locker and my car… it was outrageous. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks. It really took me a long time to recover from that, I still think about her everyday."

Criss reached over and pulled me into his arms. "I'm so sorry that had to happen to you."

I didn't realize I had been crying so hard until I sniffed. "Yeah, it's alright. Like I said, it was a long time ago, Criss. I'm sorry that it even had to be brought up. I really hope you don't think that I'm a horrible person."

His hand ran gently through my hair causing my head to press harder into his shoulder. "If anything I think you are one of the bravest people I have ever met. To concur and get over a hurdle in life like that is amazing. Especially to come out of it and then use your experience to help others."

I half-smiled as I pulled away from him to look into his eyes. "Seriously?"

"Seriously, I wouldn't lie to you." He returned my smiled as he wiped at my cheeks.

"Any more questions?" I asked through a breath.

His forehead rested on mine. "No, not right now. I think you put it all out there babe, you?"

I smirked. "Next time can you please leave the pants _off_?"

**NOTE: THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN READING! I HAVE CREATED ANOTHER POLL, THIS ONE IS FOR BLURRED REALITY, PLEASE VOTE, ITS ON MY PROFILE PAGE, IT HAS TO DO WITH UPCOMING CHAPTERS! YAY!**

**Always,**

**Deppdependant**


	29. Zip Ups and Slip Ups

**Blurred Reality **

**Chap. 27**

_Zip Ups and Slip Ups_

To be fairly blunt, I was scarred shitless to take these girls "home" to my mom. Not because of the fact that I couldn't see myself having a secure future with any of them but because in my mother's opinion, no one was ever good enough for me. I knew that she would have a heyday tearing them down and nitpicking them all apart for one reason or another. Although her reasoning may be off at times, I still hold her views on the women in my life very detrimental because I have to admit that 99.9% of the time she calls the shots right and see's through their bullshit before anyone else does.

As I nervously made my way down into the hallway outside my room and into the elevator I began think over the worst possible outcomes that the afternoon could bring. I had it planned that all of the girls were going to meet me down stairs for lunch. They were not yet aware of the fact that my mom was going to be their "challenge" or that she was joining us out to eat. All I kept on imagining was the girls starting up another infamous catfight at the table and embarrassing the hell out of me. _Maybe, just maybe today the girls were all in a harmonious mood._

The second I walked into the café I heard Kelly's high pitched laughter radiate throughout the room followed by Lisa's snort and my nerves eased up a bit.

"Hey there sexy!" Amelia winked as she patted an empty chair between her to her left. "What's with the frown?"

I shrugged a bit as took up her offer and sat down. "Today you girls have a serious challenge ahead of you."

"Oh boy…" Kelly breathed across from me.

"What's up?" Lisa questioned.

"Today my mom will be joining us for lunch to meet you all." I replied, finally taking notice that Melissa hadn't said a single word since I sat down. I went to approach her but from the thin line on her lips and the way she had her arms folded against her chest she looked pretty pissed off at someone or something. I decided maybe it was best to let her wait and speak to me first… whatever her issue may be.

"Awww, Criss that's wonderful! I'm excited!" Kelly smiled brightly.

"If I would have known that I wouldn't have worn this shirt!" Amelia glanced at her revealing low cut top and bit her lip hesitantly. "Shit."

I chuckled still lazing my eyes on her chest before I snapped out of it. "You look fine, hun. It's not as bad as you think it is."

Melissa finally grunted. "Want to wear my zip up? It think it'd help…"

Amelia shrugged and glanced back at me questionably. _What the hell… she looked just fine. Or maybe she looked okay to me because I enjoyed looking at it. Hmmm… _

"Do whatever you feel comfortable with." I tossed my hands up with a laugh.

Amelia took the teal colored zip up from Melissa and half-smiled.

My mom showed up around fifteen minuets after I had arrived and once we were done warmly greeting each other I introduced her to the girls. After some small talk about the Luxor and an obnoxiously long story about when I was a little our food finally arrived and that's when she turned into the questioning drill sergeant that I knew she would.

"So Kelly, Criss told me that you have a son?" My mom inquired.

Kelly nodded as she took a sip of her drink. "I do. He's my pride and joy. His name is Mathew, he'll be turning 3 years old in 2 months… I can't believe it. Time flies."

My mom nodded and glanced over at me for a moment. "It sure does, I still think of Christopher as my little boy and probably always will. If Criss ends up choosing you in the end, how to do you think your son will feel about having him in his life?"

Kelly was quiet for a moment and I raised my eyebrow.

"Well, in the beginning of this show I'll be honest with you Dimitra, I didn't tell Criss that I had a son. I wanted him to get to know me for me first. Now, looking back on that, I think I made a mistake there. I've been hurt so many times in the past with men when I tell them up front that I have a son they'd seem to run away very quickly at the mere hint of any kind of parental baggage. When I did tell Criss he was very accepting and has been ever since. I'm not here to find a baby daddy, I'm here to find love. I think that Mathew would be thrilled. Criss is great with children and has a very eccentric and young at heart personality."

I smiled. "I'd love to meet Mathew Kelly."

"I can't wait for you to meet him." She grinned.

My mom nodded, "I think you have a excellent outlook on the situation."

* * *

Lisa forked her chicken next me and whispered, "What's wrong?"

"I'm in a pissed off mood." I whispered back, my eyes glued on Criss's mom who was chatting with Amelia.

"About?" Lisa pressed.

"Just some bullshit, I really don't feel like being here right now." I sighed.

Lisa's eyes bugged. "Being here or being _here_…."

I shrugged a bit confused. "I don't know. I just don't feel like being here."

The table grew hushed and felt eyes suddenly staring at me.

"What did you say Melissa?" Amelia questioned.

"Nothing, it's nothing." I assured.

Amelia shook her head not buying my response. "Whatever, crazy." She muttered.

I dropped my fork causing it to make a sharp noise against my plate.

"Hey, 'lissa you alright?" Kelly asked with a concerned look on her face.

"I'm fine." I replied quickly once I noticed that Criss' mom was starring me down.

"Yeah, what's up with you today?" Criss questioned seriously. "You look massively angry."

Before I could speak Lisa interjected, "She doesn't want to be here anymore."

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed shooting her a look of hell.

Lisa smirked. "That's what you just said, right Amelia?"

"I thought it was just her being crazy again… but yeah she just said that." Amelia replied.

Fuming I stood up from my chair and yelled, "I didn't just say that I said HERE at this damn table not as in _here _on this show! And Amelia, go fuck yourself! You're the craziest bitch I've ever met in my entire life. Why don't you show Criss' mom what shirt you're wearing underneath my hoodie!"

Criss stood up, loudly clearing his throat. "Come on Melissa, let's go take 5 and talk this out, just you and me."

_Great, now I was getting a "time out"…_

**HEY EVERYONE, I'M SOOOO SORRY THAT IT HAS TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE THIS!!! I'VE BEEN SICK, THEN CRAZY WITH WORK. THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO VOTED IN THE POLL! IT'S STILL OPEN UNTIL THE NEXT ELIMINATION CHAP. CHANCES ARE I WILL SEND HOME WHO YOU VOTE FOR! SO VOTE, VOTE AND VOTE FOR WHO YOU WANT TO GO HOME! ***IT'S LIKE REVERSE AMERICAN IDOL LMFAO*** OH AND AS ALWAYS, I LOVE REVIEWS (:**

**ALWAYS,**

**DEPPENDANT**


	30. More Drama for Your Momma

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 28**

**More Drama for Your Momma**

Criss gazed down at me with a puzzled look on his face as we stood in the busy hallway of the Luxor casino.

"Are you alright today? What's wrong?" He asked, seeming to hold back his aggravation within the circumstance.

My shoulders shrugged a bit as I drew in a deep sigh trying to ignore a group of tourists who were pointing in his direction.

"I'm sorry. I'm just not in a good mood."

Criss raised a single eyebrow and huffed. "So… you're not going to tell me what's going on?"

"Well, I mean… I'd rather not talk about it right now but seeing as how it was turned into some sort of huge production at the lunch table I suppose I have to." I snapped back unintentionally.

"Look, I'm just trying to help. You don't have to get shitty with me." He defended. "Unless, it's me you are in fact pissed off at… are you mad at me, because you seem like you are?"

My heart instantly sunk the second I noticed the growing frown on his face. "No, no… I'm not upset with you. Why would I be?" I reassuringly placed my hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry if I made you assume that, babe."

Criss nodded and took hold of my hand. "Then tell me? If you don't tell me about it then I can't help but to assume the worst."

I paused for a moment as he pulled me closer to him and tried to think of the best possible way to word my next few sentences.

"I am upset today because I received a phone call from my best friend Natasha back home and she informed that she read in both a gossip magazine and online all about my personal hospitalization history. Obviously it has been leaked out for all of the public to have a heyday with. Not only that but the person who released the information was my asshole of an ex-boyfriend Ryan." I explained as calmly as I could. "And to top it all off that bitch Amelia calling me crazy didn't help any. All day I've had to deal with her and Lisa making sly comments about me behind my back and talking trash about how 'nuts' I am and how I'm an insane fan 'stalking' you and how I'm supposedly going to 'murder' everyone in the show if you don't pick me or whatever. I feel horrible about making an asshole out of myself in front of your mom and I will apologize to her. I'm very sorry but I just couldn't take their shit anymore today."

Criss was silent for a moment before he sweetly ran his hand against my cheek.

"I'm so sorry that he did that to you Melissa. That's really fucking low. Don't worry about my mom… she's pretty understanding if you just explain to her what's going on. As for Lisa and Amelia, I'm going to get that taken care of-"

I cut him off abruptly. "No, don't say anything to them, it will only make it worse."

Criss grinned crookedly and replied, "I didn't say how I was going take care of it, now did I?"

"No… but-" I went to speak but his lips pressed again mine which interrupted my attempt.

When Criss and I walked back into the café holding hands I noticed the less than thrilled expression on Lisa's face. I think she had wished that Criss would have booted me off the show right then and there. Scooting my chair closer against the wall I tried my best to remain my distance between both Amelia and Lisa the best I could and keep civilly to myself for the rest of our meal.

After we had all finished up eating Dimitra began speaking to us each alone. First she pulled Amelia aside to a small corner booth and from what I could vaguely spot out she was grilling her hard by the nervous look on Amelia's face. About 10 minutes later Amelia returned and informed me that it was my turn to speak with Dimitra one on one and I nearly choked on the ice cube in my water glass.

"Have a seat Melissa…" Dimitra signaled on the opposite side of the booth with a warm smile. I wasn't too sure if it was genuine or put on but the gesture seemed more business like than that of a friendly nature.

I sat down and folded my hands on top of the wooden table. "Before we began on the wrong foot, I really want to apologize for my unnecessary outburst earlier. That really was rude and uncalled for. I'm sorry if you have gotten the wrong impression of me… I have a few personal issues that I'm currently battling with at home and everything just seemed to pile on top of me the wrong way today. I just feel awful for presenting myself like that to you and I really hope that we can somehow begin over… so," I held out my hand with an apologetic smile.

Dimitra shook it firmly and grinned a bit more sincerely than her first. "Apology accepted. Thank you for taking the time out to realize that you were in the wrong and that you did make a fool out of yourself." She grew silent for a moment. "But it does takes a bigger person to admit that. What exactly is going on in your home life that is so detrimental?"

I shook my head. "It's rather personal and complicated but it's getting taken care of."

"Hmmm…" Her eyes narrowed into mine trying to pry further. "Personal and complicated doesn't sound like a very stable lifestyle to be wanting to start a long term relationship…"

_Well, you'd think I'm a nut job if I told you the entire story… so… which one was worse…?_

I just shrugged a bit agitated. "It's really not _that _bad of a situation. Criss is actually the only other person who knows about it besides my best friend and my immediate family. He seems to be handling it well so far, I think."

Dimitra's forehead wrinkled. "If Criss knows of your personal life, then why are hiding it from his own mother?"

I sighed. "I suppose you're right… I don't really have an answer for that… other than the fact that I'm really tired of everyone judging me because of it…" Before I knew it tears were forming in my eyes and I sniffed hard to keep them back.

Dimitra placed her hand on top of mine replied, "Melissa all that matters in life is that you know what you've accomplished and what you've done. If you honestly know deep down in you heart that you are a good person then that's all that matters. Who cares what others say and how they judge you if you and the Lord know the truth of your life."

I nodded as I eyed the girls starring over at us from across the room. "I really have no problem telling you my personal issues Dimitra, but do you mind if we spoke outside in the hall?"

* * *

I paced around the stage for awhile as the girls all lined up for elimination. Since I was now down to the final 3 there were no more winners for the challenges. My mom did however inform me that in her mind Kelly handled herself the best at lunch and during her one-on-one. Mom said that out of all the girls she could see me with Kelly the most because she was more mature and already had her goals in life set and wanted a family, which is what I supposedly "needed" the most. Therefore, technically if there was a challenge winner, she would be it. However, I didn't feel as if it was fair to put a challenge "win" on meeting my mom. In my mind she was the ultimate challenge. My mom also said that the girl who did the absolute worst at lunch was Melissa… BUT she had the second best one-on-one which made her gain points. She felt that Melissa was overall a very sweet and genuine, hard working girl. She said that she could tell that out of everyone Melissa seemed to have the most honest feelings for me but she warned me to be cautious of her suspicious and troubling past. As for Amelia she told me that she felt neutral. She neither cared for nor really disliked her, come to think of it, she never really said much about her at all… Lisa was a whole different story she was very adamant about how strongly she felt that she needed to be sent home. She told me that she got the vibe that Lisa was only on the show out of sheer boredom and more than likely to fed her on going need for unnecessary drama.

The eliminations were only getting harder and harder the closer I became to these girls but that night I knew not only had to take my mom's words to heart but I had to keep my promise to Melissa and spilt up Amelia and Lisa, the only question was who was I going to send home? If my mom had nothing but negative things to say about Lisa then that was obvious that I should send her home, but then again if Amelia hadn't even stood out enough for her to even notice then maybe I should sent her off instead? Was I really ready to say goodbye to either one of them? Sure sometimes, well, 80 percent of the time Lisa dressed like a pelican vomited on her but she always made me laugh. And I really couldn't imagine sending Amelia home… her obnoxious red hair might piss me off but I love her taste in music and her lip rings are fucking sexy…

_Seriously…. Damn…. I needed to make a decision already._

_That's it… Lisa's going home. _

_I think… Maybe._

_Yes. Positive. _

"Lisa," I began a bit hesitantly. "I'm sorry but you're no longer in my blurred reality…"

_Yes, still positive._

**_THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE REVIEWS AND THE POLL VOTES! YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY TO SEE THAT CRISS HAS REMOVED WHO YOU VOTED FOR OFF OF THE SHOW! LOL! LISA HAD 7 VOTES AND AMELIA HAD 3, AND KELLY HAD 2 WHEN I CLOSED THE POLL. THANKS AGAIN! _**

**_ALWAYS,_**

**_DEPPDENDANT_**


	31. Night Terrors and Dress Codes

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 29**

**Night Terrors and Dress Codes**

_Brown hair covered my arm as her limp body floated beside me in the icy cold water. I could feel my heart speed up as a loud scream built into the back of my throat. Her tan skin was fading faster by the second into a horrid grayish blue and as my body stalled I knew then that I was holding my now lifeless friend inside of my shaking arms._

I woke up abruptly to the muffled sound of the T.V. in my hotel room. _What time was it? _The alarm clock read 1:18am. _Damn. Fucking nightmare. _

I stretched and wiped the sweat off of my forehead. It didn't make sense… I hadn't dreamt about that night in years…

A small shiver ran down my spine as I crawled out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. Releasing a loud sigh I turned on the tap water and splashed it against my face. The visions of my all too familiar nightmare were still fresh inside mind as I gazed into the mirror.

_If only I wasn't drunk… _

_If only Nathan wouldn't have been such a prick and thrown Marsha into the pool against her own will… _

_Maybe she would have been fine if he wouldn't have tossed her into the deep end… she probably would have alright if she could've made into the shallow water…_

_Why didn't I listen to my mom that summer and take the free CPR class at the YMCA… _

I slammed my head against the bathroom door and rubbed at my temples. This was ridiculous. I NEEDED to go back to sleep. I NEEDED to stop freaking out about the past. Knowing sleep was impossible, I threw on the same clothes I had worn earlier on that day and decided I would take a walk around the hotel to clear mind. That was one good thing about staying in Vegas, nothing ever closed.

When I pressed the button for the elevator it stalled for a moment and I held my breath hoping it wasn't one of the other girls coming up from the club. The last thing I wanted was to hear another word uttered from them about how insane I was. The silver doors opened with a muffled ding and my tired eyes lazily glanced in it's direction.

"Melissa? What are you doing up so late?" Criss questioned as I carelessly bumped into his shoulder.

Caught off guard I stepped away from the elevator and babbled, "I, I couldn't sleep. Thought maybe I'd take a walk…"

His eyebrow raised. "Are you alright? You look like you're really shook up about something?"

My lips paused in response. "I guess so. I just had an awful nightmare. It's nothing really. Just stupid."

The elevator finally closed behind him and I debated upon whether or not I should press the button down again or return to my room.

"Aw, that's not good. I don't want you to go walk around by your lonesome… do you want me to come with you?" He asked with a concerned look on his face.

I shrugged and shook my head. "No, it's alright. I'm okay. It's like 2am. I don't want to keep you up."

"You're not keeping me up all! I'm still set on midnight hours from my show. If you won't go walk with me, then at least let me make you a cup of tea or something?" He nearly begged as he walked me towards his room.

I glanced back behind me making sure none of the girls were watching us and Criss seemed to take notice of my apprehension.

"Even if they were watching, what does it matter?" He questioned as he slid his card into his door. "They aren't the one inviting you inside."

I smiled. "I suppose you're right."

* * *

"Be careful, it's still hot." I instructed as I handed Melissa her cup of herbal tea.

She nodded and uncrossed her legs trying to grab it from me without spilling it over.

As I took a seat next to her on my couch I noticed just how red her blue/green eyes were and couldn't but inquire further what her dream was about.

"It was just some bullshit really. You know, the unnecessary nightmares that somehow always seem to pop up at the wrong times…" She replied.

"Did it make any sense or was it just about something random?" I asked while I watched her set her cup down on the coffee table.

She released a shaky sigh and replied, "It was about Marsha… I haven't dreamt about her in years. I don't know… I think it's just because I've been talking about it all again. You know? I'm not used to talking about it and my past so much."

My teeth caught onto my bottom lip and I took in a deep breath.

_I don't know about Melissa, Criss. She's an awfully sweet girl. I think you two would do amazingly well together but her past issues are very alarming to me. Do you really want to be with someone with all that emotional baggage? _

My mom's words rang inside my head and I suddenly found it hard to respond.

"Yeah… I'm sure that's all that it is…"

Melissa brought her feet back up onto the couch and sat Indian style with her head resting on my shoulder.

"Me too… I _hope_." She nearly whispered.

My heart thudded with an instantaneous warning. "What do you mean, you _hope_?"

The room grew silent for a moment and I wondered if she was constructing a "good" answer to impress me.

"I don't know… I've just been stressed out lately. It might be because of stress. I'm just tired. I don't want to keep on having them like I used to." She finally answered in a low tone.

"So, you used to have them all the time?" I asked as I wrapped my arm around her.

"Yeah, a lot after she passed away. I haven't had them in 3 years. Not until I came here and brought it all back up again." Her eyes closed for a moment and she tilted her head deeper into my neck.

_Hmmm, this couldn't be a good sign… reoccurring night terrors that once drove her to the mental hospital. This was definitely a red flag…_

I ran my hand lazily through her hair as I thought over all the possible reasons she could have had this nightmare. Maybe it was stress. Maybe she was just tired of reliving the horrible tragedy by having to discuss it with everyone. Maybe she was tired of all the girls ganging up on her. Or, maybe… maybe she was really just insane like everyone else was telling me.

"Criss," Melissa broke my train of thought and glanced up at me with sleepy eyes.

"Hmmm?"

"You know something? I've never felt more comfortable around anyone as I have around you. Thank you for not judging me like everyone else and thinking I some kind of maniac." Her words were interrupted by her own yawn and she snuggled tighter against my chest. "Really though, thank you for always listening to me and understanding. It means a lot."

_Great, now I felt like a giant piece of shit… but how could I not be confused. How could I not second guess everything that she was telling me? Maybe I did just need to keep on going with my gut feeling which was telling me that she was absolutely 100 percent the girl I'd been waiting for all of my life. Hmmm… but that would probably be too simple… wouldn't it? _

"You're welcome. Anytime." I replied and kissed her forehead. "Are you getting tired?"

There was no response other than a faint nod and I could tell by the increase of dead weight against me that she was more than likely half asleep.

"Melissa?" I whispered into her ear. "You awake?"

After no reply I chuckled a bit to myself and carefully scooped her up into my arms towards my bedroom.

* * *

My arms stretched comfortably out from underneath my pillow as I rolled over onto my side to get into a better position. With my eyes still closed, I felt a weight drop onto my back and nearly screamed. Abruptly sitting up and trying to quickly clear away the sleep from my eyes I felt my heart and my head pound with confusion. _Where in the hell was I?!_ Through the moon light I vaguely saw the figure of a cat staring at me on an unfamiliar nightstand. Beside the cat was an alarm which indicated that it was 4:45am.

"Hammie?" I whispered. "Is that you?"

The cat purred strutting towards the edge of the bed and I shook my head. "You jumped on top of me, didn't you." I muttered with relief as I patted his head.

My eyes drifted further to my right and I spotted Criss sleeping soundly next to me. I smiled to myself suddenly realizing that I must have fallen asleep while we were talking. How did I get in his bedroom? Did he wake me up? If so, I didn't remember…

I carefully shimmied my way back down underneath the covers and Hammie curled up next to my head. It took me a moment to shut my eyes but when they did I felt Criss' arm entangle itself around my waist.

"Criss…" I whispered. "You asleep?"

His hand tightened against my hip and he mumbled, "You're finally awake…"

I giggled and rolled over to face him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you."

"It's no big deal. Don't worry about it." He replied with a yawn.

"Do you want me to head back to my room?" I questioned seriously.

Bringing me closer against him he replied, "No, stay. If I wanted you back in your room you wouldn't be here right now."

I grinned through the dark. "But I really don't want the girls to-"

Criss cut me off. "It's not like we're having sex or something."

My cheeks instantly flushed. "I know… but they'll blow it all to hell."

His lips pressed against my cheek and I drew in a shallow breath.

"You always dwell too much about what others think Melissa. Who cares about them right them now. I don't."

I wasn't too sure how to take that comment so I just shrugged inside his embrace and I nodded. "Alright, I'll stay then. What time do you want me out of here?"

Criss laughed. "WE as in YOU and I, have to be up at 9am tomorrow, I actually have something big planned for you girls."

"When don't you?" I rolled my eyes sarcastically. "Can you give me a hint?"

He paused for a moment and dished, "It's still something family orientated."

"Hmmm…" I thought for a moment. "Oh, are you going to meet our moms?"

Criss shrugged. "You'll see tomorrow, won't you."

"I suppose so." I sighed and ran my hand down his backend. My eyes instantly popped wide open the second I came to the realization that he was nude.

"Criss," I began trying not to stutter uncomfortably. "wh-where's you're pants?"

He chuckled with a sly grin. "Last time you requested that I leave them off if I'm not mistaken…"

My words caught in my throat for a moment. "You um, you do really listen to me well, don't you?"

His lips sensually found mine through the twilight of the bedroom and I found every moment of our eager kiss oddly too natural. Before I knew it my scoop neck shirt and my jeans were laying in a crumpled heap on the floor and both of our hands were desperately pawing at my complicated front clasp bra. Everything was moving so fast I swore that the room was spinning. _What was I doing? I couldn't do this. But I wanted to this… oh shit, I REALLY wanted to this! But, I couldn't, I wouldn't… that would mess things up between us, I knew it. Things would be too awkward and what if I got eliminated next elimination? Then I'd totally feel like a slut… What if I wasn't the only girl in the house he was trying to sleep with? No, Criss wasn't like that. Who was I kidding, all men are pretty much like that? _

My hands dropped to down from my bra and I bit my lip with hesitation. "Ummm… hey, so I thought we weren't have sex, remember?" I uneasily laughed.

Criss tore his eyes away from my chest and blinked. "Right, right…"

"Y-eah." I sighed finding it difficult to look at him without feeling torn again. "So, maybe… maybe I _should _go?"

"No, don't go. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it lead up into this. Stay, please… just stay here with me." His eyes pleaded with mine and felt my body burn with longing as his lips pecked along my neck.

"Criss, I'll stay if you stop teasing me, really now…" I trailed off.

He giggled lightly. "Okay, I'll stop. I promise. I'll even put my pants back on…"

"Hmmm…. Nah, those can still stay off." I laughed as we settled ourselves comfortably for bed.

**NOTE: THANKS FOR READING! HEHEHE, THIS ONE WAS A LONGER ONE FOR YOU ALL! YAY! YOU KNOW I'M A REVIEW WHORE SO AS ALWAYS, REVIEW!!! AND THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE!!! (DESI-PARI THAT REVIEW ABOUT THE GUN HAD ME LMFAO!!! BTW)**

**NOTE: NOTE: TO ALL OF MY LUCKY13 AND QUEEN OF HEARTS READERS I HAVE ADDED A NEW INSTALLMENT TO THE SERIES CALLED "THREE OF A KIND". GO CHECK IT OUT! AND PLZ TAKE THE POLL ON THE PROFILE THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE SERIES!**


	32. Forgive and Forget

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 30**

**Forgive and Forget**

Amelia's piercing green eyes fixed into mine as I took a seat next to her in the back of the limo. I could tell by the way her nose was scrunched up that she was already formulating a negative opinion about the fact that Criss and I had arrived in the hotel lobby together arm-in-arm. That morning Criss had told us that we were all going to head out with him to the local park for a "family" picnic where he had a special surprise waiting for us.

"Looks like you had a long night…" Amelia grunted as we pulled up to the park and shuffled out of the limo.

"Leave her alone Amelia, don't start you're shit up again." Kelly stood up for me placing her hand on my shoulder. "It's too nice of day outside today to fight."

With a half smile I replied, "Thanks Kel. Come on, Criss is probably already here."

All three of us made our way up the parking lot and over a small grassy hill towards a canopied area which included about 12 large wooden picnic benches and 4 small outdoor charcoal grills. My eyes scanned over group of people underneath the framed canopy and instantly I spotted Criss's turned back chatting away with who looked to be Dimitra. As we all moved in closer I heard Kelly scream excitedly to the right of me, "Oh my God! Dad! Is that you?! Mom… MOM!" She took off running in a hurry towards the picnic benches so fast I thought she was going to trip over her own feet.

Amelia jogged to keep up with her and it wasn't 20 seconds later she too yelled, "No way! Shut up! Mom?!"

_Shit, I knew that this would happen. Everyone's parents would show BUT mine. That's how it always was and always had been… To be honest I hadn't even spoken to my mother in 6 months. That was all thanks to my wonderful douche bag of a stepfather. He could go fuck himself. _

I slowly but surely made my way toward to crowd of happy faces and attempted to paint on my own joyful façade. As Kelly's parents gushed over her how big her son was getting and Amelia's mom showered her daughter with giant bear hugs I took a seat at the end of an empty picnic bench and sighed.

_This was definitely going to be a long day. Maybe I should have made amends with my mother years ago but how could I ever forgive her for disrespecting my father? How could I ever forget all of the horrible things that my stepfather Paul put both of us through for so many years? I simply couldn't. I could never erase those memories of seeing her cheating on my dad the night he left for his business trip to Atlanta, then after his plan crashed suddenly "balling" her eyes out and playing the pity card at his funeral. Everyone knew it was just an act, they simply had too. I could never forgive her for selling all of his personal items just so she could get the dream house that she always wanted and then marry Paul only 3 months after he had passed. I could never forget Paul telling me over and over, "Daddy's dead now little girl, there's nothing your tears can do to get him back so you're mothers all mine now and so are you. You WILL do as you are told or you'll end up in fucking box just like him and your stupid friend Marsha."_

_Sometimes, I wanted to kill Paul and put him a box… that was really the only time I ever did truly feel "insane"._

"Hey, are you alright?" Criss questioned from behind me.

I shrugged. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just sitting here thinking."

Kneeling down beside me and tooking hold of my hands and he whispered, "You're step dad said that you're mother didn't want to come?"

My heart pounded against my chest with anger. "He would say something like that, what a prick."

Criss replied, "You too obviously don't get along?"

I nearly laughed out loud. "More along the lines of hating each other. Strong words, but unfortunately it's true."

He stood up, taking my hands with him. "Come on, how about that walk?"

My eyebrow raised as I followed him. "Alright…"

"You didn't seem too upset last night when I told you this would be family orientated." He pointed out as we both headed out from underneath the canopy and towards a set of swings.

"It's not that big of deal. I'm used to it. My dad passed away when I was 15 and my mom and my step dad seem to have always excluded me ever since." I replied with a frown as a group of children rushed passed us chasing after a colorful beach ball.

"You said that your father passed away in a plane crash, correct?" Criss inquired.

I nodded, taking a seat on a low ridding swing.

"He was a lawyer, so sometimes he had to travel to different firms and such on occasion. Well, the night he left for his flight I was supposed to be sleeping over at friends house but I got the case of the stomach flu, I don't know what was up, her family was Asian and they always had me eat this funky shit… so anyway I came home early and went to tell my mom and that's when I caught her in bed with my now step dad, Paul. The next morning we got the news that my dad's plan had crashed about 45 miles from Atlanta due to a sever thunderstorm and an inexperienced pilot." I explained. "Oh, Melissa that's terrible!" Criss went to give me push on the swing but paused. "What did your mom do?"

"Kept on going with Paul, they got married 3 months later. She sold all of my dad's stuff, bought a huge house, bought Paul everything and anything under the sun, took multiple trips to Hawaii and all that fancy crap. I don't really understand why. Paul treats her like shit. He used to threaten the both of us all the time. He would tell her that if she ever left him he would kill himself… he's totally nuts. I… I just hate him." I trailed off as Criss grabbed at the metal chains on the swing to pull me backwards towards his body.

"He never hurt you did he?" He asked seriously.

My eyes shut for a moment not wanting to discuss the topic any further and I only responded with a slight nod.

Criss tightened his grip on the swing and for a moment I felt my body swift too far backwards and begin to loose balance before he eased me back upright.

"No matter what, today is going to be a good day. Look at this way, neither you or I have a dad here to share this picnic with but we both will always have them in our hearts and I've got a mom over there who I'd be more than willing to rent." He smiled down at me.

"Aw, thanks Criss. I appreciate it." I replied with a grin. "How much is rent?"

"Hmmm, free as long you kiss me."

"Today will be a good day then for the both of us." I giggled before my lips connected with his.


	33. Family Values

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 31**

**Family Values**

"So, what do you think about the girls, bro." I asked my brother J.D. as I pulled him aside from the picnic table.

His brown eyes narrowed into mine and he shrugged a bit. "I don't know… honestly… it's really hard to say. They're all different in their own way…"

My lips snaked around the top of the Corona I was drinking and I replied, "True, very true but come on, do you have a favorite at least?"

J.D. nodded in Melissa's direction who was standing off by herself next to the spread of finger food.

"No, but I think you do."

I shook my head at my brothers comment and rolled my eyes. "Is it _that _obvious?"

He grinned as we both looked her way again. She waved cutely causing me to jump back a bit and awkwardly nod in return.

"I don't know about her, Criss. She's hot as hell, don't get me wrong and she seems like a sweet girl, but mom told me she's got a lot of bullshit in her closet…" J.D. muttered.

I turned back to face him with an aggravated sigh, "Yeah, I know and somehow the bullshit in the closet seems to turning into an attic."

"You don't need more stress than you've already got in life. You know that." He pointed out as we headed back to the picnic table.

"I know, I know. It's not like I WANT to be attracted to her and her problems. I can't help it though." My hands tossed out in defense. "Besides, a lot of it we actually relate on… well, kind of."

J.D. shot me his all too infamous "overly protective big brother" look and suddenly I knew it was my time to shut up.

"KIND OF isn't going to find you love Criss, KIND OF is only going to relate you to all of your past troubles, do I need to spell your ex-wives name out for you?"

My blood rushed cold and I knew my face must have said it all.

"Hey… now, calm down…" J.D. laughed lightly at the anger in my eyes. "At least she isn't here for this 'family picnic'!"

My lips twitched into a half smile. "That would be an icy day in hell."

The sun was setting over the wooden canopy and I watched as Amelia's mother, Beth give her one last hug goodbye. The moment I had met Beth I saw a striking resemblance between the two of them. They each had the same facial structure and artificially colored red hair. Beth was also just as opinionated as Amelia was. She made it a point to express to me that her daughter and no one else should win. According to her, Amelia was the most beautiful and most talented woman to ever walk the face of the planet. I suppose every mother felt that way about their child but Beth was just a bit more vocal about it.

Kelly's parents seemed awkwardly too much like the Brandy Bunch. They appeared as if everything in life was carefree and had such bubbly and overly hyper personalities I wasn't too sure where her mom began and where her dad ended. I couldn't even get two words into a conversation without one of them interrupting me to express how much of a "wonderful day" it was outside or "how great" my hair looked. I think the weirdest moment was when Kelly's father, Randy asked me what the name of my dentist was that got my teeth so white…

Once everyone had said their last goodbyes I signaled for the girls to meet over at the picnic bench by themselves.

"Did everyone have a good time tonight?" I questioned as I watched Kelly fidget with the head band in her long blonde hair.

"It was great, I'm stuffed." Amelia replied with a smile.

Kelly smirked, "Yes, thank you. It was wonderful to see my parents."

Melissa just nodded with a soft smile.

"Good, it was great to meet them as well. I had a lot of fun today. The reason why I brought you all back here is because I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I have a plane waiting for us to Mexico, the bad news is that there're only 3 tickets. That means that one of you have to be eliminated right now… but instead of me doing eliminations tonight, you will be. I want you each to vote for the person who you want to go home." I paused as their faces froze in shock .

Melissa and Kelly gasped while Amelia's jaw dropped down.

"You're kidding, right?!" Amelia huffed.

I shook my head. "No, I wish I was… really… I do. I'm sorry, this is too difficult for me too decided tonight girls. I really need your help. We need to be at the airport in a about an hour. I'm going to give you girls a half hour to decide. I'll be back. Make sure you are honest with your decision."

* * *

"Well, who should go home?" Kelly asked after Criss had walked away.

Amelia shrugged and I shook my head.

"I'm staying right here, I know that much." Amelia replied with her arms crossed.

Kelly sighed. "Okay… here, why don't we each state why we think we are the best person for Criss and then based off of that we each can vote?"

I nodded. "That sounds like a plan Kelly."

Amelia hesitated, "What's the point, Kelly. By now, we all know that we each are here for the same reasons. We all have been to the same amount of challenges and have pretty much heard each others reasoning's as to why we want to and SHOULD be here… so why restate it over it again?"

My eyes rolled at how ignorant she was. "Because, this is a serious decision Amelia!"

"Don't raise your voice at me nut bag, we all know that I'm casting my lot for you to go home!" Amelia snapped. "I don't want to wake up dead tomorrow and neither does Kelly."

Kelly drew in a deep breath. "Amelia, please. I never said that _exactly_…"

"Are you going to vote me off too Kelly?" I asked with tears in my eyes. "I thought we were friends…"

"We are friends Melissa… it's just that… _that_…" Kelly began but trailed off as Amelia shot her a suspicious look. "That, it's a competition and well, honesty… I think you might be the worst for Criss… I'm sorry…"

My mind stalled for a moment before I blew up into an emotional wreck.

"Fine." I muttered. "I'm a crazy, fucking psychotic, nut case without any mommy's or daddy's to come here and kiss his ass… and maybe I will someday _murder _you all in your fucking sleep with a chainsaw and a deranged grin on my face!"

I hopped off of the picnic table and marched towards the parking lot with a burst of adrenaline.

When Criss returned he found me sitting on a yellow speed bump with my head resting in the palms of my hands.

"Melissa? What's going on? Why are you all the way over here?" He asked concerned as he took a seat next to me, his cross necklace making a soft jingling sound against his chest.

"Amelia and Kelly are voting me out… I can't handle their bullshit right now." I replied with a sniff.

Criss chuckled a bit and I raised an eyebrow at his outlandish response. "I figured as much. I knew they'd vote you out…"

"What in the hell is that supposed to mean!" I yelled in defense. "You were going to send me home too, weren't you?! This is all like some kind of sick game? Isn't it?!"

Criss drew in a deep breath and gently placed his hand on my shoulder trying to calm me down. "No, not at all. I had you all vote tonight so I could get a better perspective on what was going on between all of you. It's obvious, can't you see? They are all jealous of you, jealous of the connection that you are making with me, that is why they want to send you home."

My eyes tilted up into his and I gasped, "You're right, I never thought of that… but then who _is _going home?"

Criss planted a kiss on my forehead and smiled, "No one is going home tonight Melissa. You are all going with me to Mexico."

My heart sunk. _Hmmm… maybe I shouldn't have told the girls I was going to murder them… only God knows what they were going to turn those heat-of-the moment words into now._


	34. Who Said What Ends What Once Was

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 32**

**Who Said What Ends What Once Was**

I watched as the sun dipped down lower behind the ocean and I felt a small tap on the back of my shoulder which was still sore from the long plane ride the day before.

"It's so beautiful here Criss. Thank you for taking me." Amelia took a seat down on the sandy beach next to me and I shifted my gaze into hers.

"You're welcome. Thank you for joining me. I hope you don't mind that I brought you out here to watch the sunset?"

She shook her head eyeing the picnic basket that was laying beside me. I reached out and opened it taking out a medium sized throw blanket and signaled for her to stand up so I could sprawl it out beneath us.

Once we had all arrived in Cabo San Lucas Mexico and we were settled in our private hotel which was located right on the beach front, I decided that it was a good idea to begin taking each of the girls out individually. I wanted to start of with Amelia so I could start getting down to the bottom of what was really going on between her and Melissa.

"So, tell me…" I began as I opened a wine bottle I had packed with me. "What's been up with you lately?"

Amelia's eyebrows gathered closer together and she replied, "What do you mean?"

Handing her a wine glass I explained, "It seems as though you and the other girls haven't been getting along well lately?"

She nearly laughed as she toasted her glass against mine and we both took a sip.

"I don't know. I mean, Kelly's okay… I guess. It's really just Melissa who is constantly driving me up a wall."

"So I've noticed, why is that?" I asked curiously.

She shrugged, her red hair tossing around in the gentle wind. "To be upright honest with you Criss, I just don't think that you need someone like her in your life. Maybe as a friend, sure… but as a serious relationship, no. She's completely unstable and it just boggles me how every other day something else dramatic has happened to her that we JUST NOW find out about. It's creepy. For instance, the other night…" She paused seeming a rather hesitant. "Well, never mind…"

"What? It's okay…" I insisted.

She sighed and scooted closer to me. "Do you swear not to repeat this?"

"It depends upon what it is… but I won't say anything to jeopardize you, that I can promise."

_This obviously wasn't good news. _

"Okay, well… the other night during our voting Melissa had this crazy meltdown. Kelly and I both were sitting there calmly trying to make a decision as to who was going to go home and when Kelly asked Melissa to tell us who she thought should leave she said, 'I don't care but it's not going to me!' and so I told her, 'Melissa, be rational we are trying to make a vote here.' And that's when she just snapped, she went off telling both Kelly and I how she was going to fucking murder us with a chainsaw and some insane nonsense. It was like she went from zero to sixty in a second. It was nuts and that's why me and Kelly decided to vote her off." She explained.

"Are you sure she wasn't just joking or something, I mean you know… like upset and you took her words out of context?" I asked.

Amelia shook her head rather dramatically. "No, I'm positive. You can ask Kelly, she heard her say it as clear as I did."

"Hmmm… really…. I just don't see Melissa saying that or being that vindictive…" My mind wandered off trying to imagine Melissa screaming at the two of them with some psychotic gleam in her eyes but it just wasn't registering.

_Then again, why was everyone else constantly warning me about that girl… maybe she was totally off of the rocker and I just was blind to it all… _

_She had been rather red in the face and in a "emotional" meltdown when I first spotted her in the park parking lot. As a matter of fact, she had gone out of her way to run away from Kelly and Amelia… maybe it was because she knew she was about to harm them? Maybe she was really pissed off that they decided to vote her off after her harassing comment…_

_But, still, that was a serious allegation that could have just been her blowing off steam… or Amelia could still just be jealous about that fact that Melissa and I had a closer connection and be making the entire story up…_

Amelia's hand slid into mine snapping my thoughts back to reality.

"Did you hear me Criss?" She asked.

"Huh? No, I'm sorry… what did you say?" My hand squeezed tighter against hers.

"I said, we should go talk to Kelly right now…" She pointed out.

"This our time together and I think we should just-" I went to tell her that I felt like approaching Kelly would intrude on our date and getting to know one another but she quickly cut me off.

"Criss, I'm not as naïve as you think I am. I know that all you're thinking about is Melissa and that's why I want to get this shit over and done with and prove to you that she really did say what I told you so that then you can move on and possibly have a sane woman in your life. So yes, I am willing to give up our alone time together to protect you from falling into Melissa's dangerous trap. I care about you. Come on… let's go." Her lips leaned into mine and I accepted her kiss. She did have a good point, maybe she was right, maybe both her and Kelly saw a whole different side of Melissa than I did.

Kelly answered my knock on her hotel room door within moments. When she let us in I noticed that she had been wearing pajama's and couldn't help but chuckle at her cute booty shorts that read, "HOT MESS" on the back. If I wasn't having my alone time with Amelia I probably would have smacked her ass but I behaved myself.

"Be 100 percent honest about this Kelly because if Melissa did say those things there are going to be consequences and like wise if you both are lying to me." I said seriously as Kelly took a seat on her bed.

Amelia paced around the room and I tried to feel out if she was giving Kelly any hidden signals of what do or say but as far as I could tell she wasn't.

"She did say that," Kelly nodded with a look of defeat on her face. "I feel awful Criss, Melissa's my friend and I really don't want to talk bad about her. I know that she's had a hard life and everything but yes Amelia is right, she did say that she was going to kill us in our sleep… wi-with a chainsaw… w-with a grin on her face as well actually."

I shivered. "Fuck. You're not lying are you?"

Kelly shook her head. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you this. I just was scarred that if I betrayed her friendship that she would… well, hurt me… so to speak. She seems too fragile to upset to handle much more."

Amelia agreed from behind my shoulder. "It's almost as if we don't know what to expect from her. It's like we're living with Ms. Jackle and Ms. Hide."

"Alright, thank you for being so honest with me girls. Amelia… if you don't mind, sweetheart can we rain check our date for tomorrow night?"

Amelia slowly nodded with a curious look written on her face.

"Right now, I have a few things to take off."

_If my mom, my brother and both of the girls Melissa was spending the most time with were all concluding the same opinion of her and now to have two threatening stories match up perfectly… unfortunately it was time for me to start listening to my mind and once again shut off my heart. _Verbal and physical abuse were something I had little tolerance for and therefore still with a huge reluctance I walked out of Kelly's hotel room and signaled for my security to clear out Melissa's suite.

**NOTE: THANK YOU FOR READING! I JUST WANTED TO TELL ALL OF MY *THREE OF A KIND* READERS THAT I HAVE A NEW POLL OUT, SO PLEASE VOTE ON MY PROFILE.**


	35. All the Same

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 32**

**All the Same**

My puffy eyes glossed over as I gazed out of the tiny airplane window. I couldn't believe Criss's nerve. He didn't even have the common decency to confront me with the fucking issue that was at hand. Amelia and Kelly really had the gull to fabricate those lies about me but somehow I knew that something like this would happen to me. It was just simply all too good to be true. I knew I could never really win that stupid show anyway…

With my arms angrily folded against my chest I pressed _play _on my I-pod and drew in a staggered breath. A single tear streamed down my check as I saw the last tiny speck of Vegas leave my eye sight and disappear underneath the clouds. I couldn't lie, a part of me wished that Criss had done something fairytale like and follow me to the airport and stop my plane from taking off, but I knew that would never really happen either. Maybe he would have if I was one of the other conniving girls… like Amelia… maybe, maybe not. Who cared anymore… why did I have to care so much?

Why did Criss have to be so ignorant as to have his security escort me off of the show? Why couldn't he just talk to me civilly and calmly explain to my face that I was supposedly "threatening" the other girls in the house. Why did the producer of the show have to tell me that Criss was booting me off? What the fuck, really?! Was that all that I was worth to him? Surely, there had to be something else behind all of this bullshit…

Then again, how could I really blame him. After all, what was he really supposed to think about me. If were in his shoes, I suppose that I would probably think I was a psychotic freak as well. Everyone hated me… even his own mother, that was obvious. It probably would have never worked out between us because of her anyhow.

My eyes shut tight and I tried to drift away into a much needed nap and as my mind continued to stumble over the boggling event. When I was half-asleep my ears registered what song was playing on my I-pod. The moment I realized it was "All The Same" by Sick Puppies, I ironically half smiled and turned the volume wheel up, hoping that somehow the lyrics would bring me a new release.

_I don't mind where you come from _

_As long as you come to me_

_But I don't like illusions I cant see_

_Them clearly_

_I don't care, no I wouldn't dare To fix the twist in you_

_You've shown me eventually what you'll do_

_I don't mind_

_I don't care_

_As long as you're here_

_Go ahead and tell me you'll leave again_

_You'll just come back running_

_Holding your scarred heart in hand_

_It's all the same_

_And I'll take you for who you are_

_If you take me for everything_

_And do it all over again_

_It's all the same…_

* * *

_Blah, blah and once again blah. _I felt like shit. Utter and complete shit. Maybe I went about the entire scenario with Melissa wrong… maybe I should call her? I knew that the VH1 production team had her phone number. _No, that would be a dumbass idea. The girls were right, they had to be. _Everyone was telling me the same thing about her. THAT SHE WAS CRAZY. But was she? Even if she was… why in the hell couldn't I stop constantly thinking about her?!

Pacing around my hotel room I hurried to get ready for my private rain check with Amelia. _Hmmm… Amelia… How did I even really feel about Amelia these days? _That's what I needed to do… I NEEDED to focus more of my energy and time on the girls that were still remaining than the ones I had recently said 'good-bye' to.

With an aggravated sigh I stripped off my shirt and turned the radio on before I jumped into the shower.

_Hours slide and days go by_

_Till you decide to come_

_But in-between it always seems too long_

_Suddenly_

_But I have the skill, yeah_

_I have the will, to breath you in while I can_

_However long you stay is all that I am_

_I don't mind, I don't care_

_As long as you're here_

_Go ahead and tell me you'll leave again_

_You'll just come back running_

_Holding your scarred heart in hand_

_It's all the same_

_And I'll take you for who you are_

_If you take me for everything_

_And do it all over again_

_It's always the same_

_Wrong or Right_

_Black or White_

_If I close my eyes_

_Its all the same_

_In my life_

_The compromise I'll close my eyes_

_Its all the same_

_Go ahead say it_

_You're leaving_

_You'll just come back running_

_Holding your scarred heart in hand_

_It's all the same_

_And I'll take you for who you are now_

_If you take me for everything_

_Do it all over again_

_It's all the same _

Hmmm… maybe I couldn't forget about Melissa as easily as I thought I could… I had to do something, but what?


	36. Caught in an Undertow

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 34**

**Caught in an Undertow**

"Criss, what's wrong with you tonight? You look depressed or something?" Amelia questioned as we both walked hand in hand down the beaches sandy board walk and back towards the hotel.

I shrugged, trying to ignore the guilty feeling that was still eating away in the back of my mind. "I'm fine, I'm sorry. I was just thinking."

"Thinking about?" She pried with a grin smeared on her face, "It better not be about that cab driver who nearly ran us off the road earlier… he was an ass."

I laughed lightly. "No, not him. Just thinking about some bullshit really."

Earlier that evening I had attempted to make up for our interrupted date the other night by taking her out on a romantic dinner and a walk on the beach together but so far, my mind was still doing flips over what happened with Melissa.

"Hey, what time is it?" Amelia asked curiously glancing back towards the empty beach.

"Hold on, let me check…" I fumbled through my pockets for my cell phone and came up empty handed.

_Shit… Had I really left it laying in the sand?_

"Damn it! I think I left my phone back on the beach where we were sitting." I cussed.

Amelia shook her head rather apologetically. "Oh no! Come on, I'll help you go look for it."

"This day has been crazy, first insane cab drivers and then this, I'm sorry." I rambled as we both briskly turned around and headed back towards the water front.

"It's okay, shit happens." She giggled lightly. "Do you remember how far we were down on the beach front, because I really don't remember where we sat down?"

I shrugged. "I haven't no idea. If it wasn't for all of the numbers that I need in the phone, it really wouldn't be that big of a deal. I think we were more West." I pointed to my right and she followed my lead.

After fifteen minutes of starring down at nothing but random rocks, sand and sea shells I was about to call it quiets when she offered, "Hey, what if I call your phone from my cell?"

"Oh, yeah! That's a good idea!" I smiled.

_Why in the hell didn't I think of that myself?_

Amelia pulled out her cell phone and I told her the number. It took her nearly 9 redials until we finally saw a tiny blue flash blinking off in the sand about 12 feet ahead.

"I think we found it!" She hung up her phone as I picked mine off and dusted it off against my shorts.

"Whew! It's not even wet. Thanks for thinking of that." I replied.

"Sure thing… you really are out of it tonight aren't you?" She shot me a raised eyebrow and added, "the Criss I know is WAY more creative than I am."

I chuckled, "Yeah, well… we all have our off days, right?"

Amelia took a step closer to me and placed her hands on my chest. "I know exactly what you need right now."

My heart stalled for a moment, not too sure what her next move was going to be. "W-what's that?"

Her hand reached downward for my phone and tossed it back onto the sandy beach along with hers. "Come on, I dare you to jump in the ocean with me."

"Right now? You're kidding? It's probably freezing!" I exclaimed as felt her tug on my bicep.

"It'll get your mind off of whatever is bothering you…" She insisted. "Are you scared?"

"Well, no… I'm not scared. To be honest with you Amelia, I really hate water." I replied hesitantly as she dragged me to edge of the shore.

Her face distorted into a confused glance, the moonlight exaggerating her facial features. "What?! YOU hate water? Seriously, now you're pulling my leg! If I'm not mistaken you're the same Criss Angel who locks himself underwater in steel boxes and handcuffs, correct?"

With a slow nod I replied, "Yes… I mean well, that's work. I do a lot of shit at work that I'm really not fond of. I've nearly drown so many times Amelia, I couldn't count… so when it doesn't have to do with a stunt practice or just chillin' on a boat or in a pool, I really like to steer clear. Odd logic I know."

Amelia sighed and clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. "Well, don't you always also say that you need to face your fears?"

"Okay, okay… I'll go in with you… but if it's cold as hell, I'm getting straight out!" I quickly picked her up and ran as fast I could into the dark ocean. The moment the water leveled above my waist it took my breath away. I was right it was just as icy cold as I had expected. Amelia screamed, clinging onto my back and I hoped in the back of mind that she wouldn't let go since the heat of her body was protecting my upper half from the frigid waves.

"Holy shit!" Amelia giggled as I dunked her down lower into the water. "Okay, I admit it! I was wrong! You were right!"

"I can't hear you my ears are frozen!" I joked as we both held onto one another tighter.

"It's not THAT bad!" She pushed down on my shoulders causing me to dunk lower down towards the bottom of the ocean floor. My foot took a step backward, trying to search for shallow sand but to my surprise it dropped off down beneath me about 4 feet. Instantly my mind clicking alerting me of all the stories I had heard about undertows. A large wave crashed down between us and Amelia peel off of me. Through watery eyes I saw Amelia sink down underwater and that's when I began to panic.

"Amelia!" I shouted, my voice choppy from the waves ridding against my chest. "Come on, that's not even funny right now!"

About a minute elapsed and I found myself frantically scanning the water around me. "Amelia?!"

_I knew that I could hold my breath for a long duration of time but even surpassing a minute was more than what most average people could do._

I dove down underneath the blue-black ocean and concentrated on trying to feel my way around rather than focus my eyesight. There was no use of even trying to see, everything was completely hazy and the salt water stung my eyes shut anyway. I had no idea how long I was searching blindly through water, possibly 30 seconds, maybe 3 minutes, who knows but however long it was it seemed like an eternity before I felt a large mass of hair brush against my finger tips. I swam closer, my arms wide open in front of me, wishing for once that it was me drowning again, that it was my hair someone else was reaching for and my arms they were pulling out from the stubborn undertow…

Amelia's body laid flat on the sandy beach, her arms limply sprawled out at her sides. Her skin was just as Melissa had once described it, a horrible shade of grayish-blue. The color someone gets when they are completely lacking oxygen. My heart was pounding so hard I wasn't even sure I myself was alive anymore.

"Come on Amelia! Hang in there honey!" I cried as I pounded on her chest for the 7th time in a row.

I hadn't done CPR since high school, shit, I really hoped to God I was doing this right.

_Lord, Jesus if you can hear me now… _

I breathed deeply into her mouth again as I rapped on her chest.

_I swear to you, if you wake this girl up… please, God._

Amelia coughed against my lips and I pulled away with an loud sigh of relief.

"Amelia! Oh thank God! AMELIA!" I exclaimed as I helped her sit her up.

"Mar-" She began to speak but was cut off by her our lungs wheezing up water.

"It's okay, you're okay…" I gently rubbed her back and kissed her forehead.

Her eyes widely scanned through mine. "M-Marsha." She muttered weakly. "Marsha…"

My eyebrow raised slightly, "What?"

"She tried to kill me."

_Marsha? Why did that name sound so familiar? _

"You need to rest Amelia… it's going to be okay." I assured her as I pulled her against my chest. My eyes scanned the over the ocean, a small shiver running down my spine as I remembered the ironic name of Melissa's deceased best friend.

_Oh my God… this couldn't be happening._


	37. Tales From The Crypt

**Blurred Reality**

**Chap. 35**

**Tales From The Crypt**

After my very eventful date with Amelia I decided that it would best if I had her examined by a local hospital just to be sure she was alright. The doctors informed me that everything was fine, that her breathing was normal. They just suggested that the next day she stayed off of her feet. _Hmmm… maybe I needed a psychiatrist to evaluate her as well? All she kept on bringing up was the fact that she swore she saw "Marsha" pull her underneath the water… The only thing I could conclude was that maybe Melissa had told her what Marsha looked like and maybe Amelia was frightened by the entire story… _

"What did that 'Marsha' look like Amelia?" I asked quietly as we both headed back into the hotel.

Amelia shivered and took hold of my hand. "She was really pale and looked maybe like she was high school."

"I mean, like what color hair did she have?" I questioned further.

She shrugged a bit. "I don't know, I think light brown…. _Maybe_…"

"What was she wearing?"

"Oh, I don't remember! It was dark… I really don't want to talk about it anymore… I just know it was her, Criss. Okay?" She shot me an aggravated glance.

My cell phone starred back at me, little grains of sand still imprinted in the corners of the black case. That was it. I was calling Mark.

"Hello?" He answered a bit groggy.

"Hey, man. I'm sorry it's late." I apologized after realizing the time difference between Mexico and America.

"It's ok… it's my job, being your bitch. What's going on, Criss?" He asked sarcastically.

"I pay you well enough to be!" I laughed. "Listen, I need you to call Cris from VH1 and hook me up with every single tape, edited and unedited I want them all. Send them to me, ASAP. I mean it…"

"You're in fucking Mexico Criss! It's going to take me a awhile to manage that… maybe 3 days?" Mark sighed.

I gave the phone a pissed off look and replied, "3 days?! No, I NEED them by TOMORROW NIGHT. Tell Cris and his management that if I don't have them in my hand by then I am ending my contract."

The line was dead for a moment before Mark roughly replied, "Alright. By the way… I want a fucking raise."

I grinned. "Don't we all. I love you man. You are my savior. Have a good night."

Sure enough some how Mark managed to get Cris to send me every single tape by Air Mail and they arrived at the hotel the very next afternoon at 3pm. I instructed Amelia and Melissa that all dates, eliminations, and everything was going to be delayed until that night. I NEEDED to find that damned tape, no matter what how long it took me. I needed to end my fucking subconscious once and for all and find out which one of the girls in the show was really the craziest. _Was it Melissa or was it Amelia? Was it me for even being so damn stupid to sign up for this shit?_

My finger tips brushed against a DVD that read, "**EPISODE TAKE 28 PADDED WALLS AND STRAIGHT JACKETED HEARTS UNEDIT**"

Hmmm… this one sounded interesting.

I popped it into my laptop and pressed play after the program loaded.

I watched as it showed and image of Melissa knocking on my suite door and me letting her inside with Hammie weaving through my ankles.

I remembered that now… that was time she came over to tell me why she was in hospital…

_The door closed shut and the camera angle remained settled on an empty hallway for a moment before I saw Amelia walk passed my door and stop. She hesitated for a second and then crouched down on her knees, placing her ear above the door knob._

So that's how she knew about Melissa's friend Marsha… she fucking eased dropped on our conversation!

_Kelly's blonde hair moved swiftly past the camera lens and I watched intently as Amelia signaled for her to join in and listen._

You've got to be kidding me… BOTH of them?!

I ejected the DVD, having seen enough. An hour later I found another labeled, "**EPISODE TAKE 32 FAMILY VAULES****UNEDIT"**

This was clearly from the night I had the girls mock vote for who should be sent home. _The girls were all sitting nervously on the picnic benches in the park and I listened while Kelly offered, _

_"Okay… here, why don't we each state why we think we are the best person for Criss and then based off of that we each can vote?"_

_Amelia's eyes met Kelly's in some sort of wink as Melissa nodded, "That sounds like a plan Kelly."_

_Amelia hesitated, "What's the point, Kelly. By now, we all know that we each are here for the same reasons. We all have been to the same amount of challenges and have pretty much heard each others reasoning's as to why we want to and SHOULD be here… so why restate it over it again?"_

_"Because, this is a serious decision Amelia!" Melissa rolled her eyes._

_"Don't raise your voice at me nut bag, we all know that I'm casting my lot for you to go home!" Amelia snapped. "I don't want to wake up dead tomorrow and neither does Kelly."_

_Kelly drew in a deep breath. "Amelia, please. I never said that exactly…"_

_"Fine. I'm a crazy, fucking psychotic, nut case without any mommy's or daddy's to come here and kiss his ass… and maybe I will someday murder you all in your fucking sleep with a chainsaw and a deranged grin on my face!" Melissa blew up and headed off of the picnic table in made dash for what I knew was the parking lot._

_Once Melissa was out of the sight I noticed Kelly grin and Amelia chuckle, "Thank you God! Now we can finally say that bitch really IS nuts… now all we have to do is tell Criss what happened and BOOM she's gone."_

_Kelly nodded, "She's so retarded she actually thinks I'm her friend. I've hated that girl all alone."_

My blood ran cold as I slammed my laptop shut with a loud groan. Both of the remaining girls were trying to play me for a fool and I wasn't going to have it. I'd been played way too many times in my life to have it happen again. I didn't give a flying shit how much they tried to talk their way out of this one the show was over. I was officially spending my last 2 days in Mexico by myself.

I always used to hate eliminations but somehow I was more than happy to inform Amelia and Kelly that they needed to leave.

"Kelly! Amelia!" I shouted rather monotone down the hallway of the hotel. "I need you girls to come here!"

Kelly's hotel room door popped open and I saw Amelia's head peak out behind Kelly's.

"Are you finally ready for our date?" Kelly joked as they both walked out into the hallway.

I shook my head as I shoved my hands into the front of my jean pockets. "No, actually. There isn't going to be a date tonight. There is NEVER going to be a date… I want both you to pack your shit up and be ready in an hour to leave."

"Leave?! Where are we going?" Amelia asked confused. "Back to Vegas already?"

"Yeah, we didn't even get to go anywhere together…" Kelly whined.

_Oh my God, how much more did I have to spell it out._

"No, there are two different planes, one for each one of you to take you each back to your homes. I'm done with this show, for good. I looked back at the tapes and BOTH of you have lied to me-" I went to continue to but Amelia cut me off.

"I never lied to yo-"

"Seriously Amelia, do you want to fucking sit down and watch it with me? I'm sorry, I'm really upset with the both of you right now. I just can't believe that either one of you could do all of that to me or any of the girls in this show." I shook my head with disapproval. "Like I said, just be ready to leave. The production team will show you where to go. Everything's all taken care of." I walked away before I could hear anymore of their bullshit.


	38. Eharmony Reunion

**Blurred Reality **

**Chap. 36**

**E-harmony Reunion **

One Month Later

The sound of my own laughter billowed throughout my small apartment. I couldn't help but crack up as I watched "Blurred Reality" air on VH1. It took me a moment to realize just how ridiculous the show really was. Throughout every single episode VH1 made it all seem like some sort of a spin off of Mindfreak/Rock of Love and to be honest the rock music score they played almost every time in the background when Criss Angel stepped into the scene for eliminations made me almost piss my pants. I think the moment I DID ALMOST piss my pants was when they edited fake stars floating above Kelly's head when she fell off of the stage during her cheerleading act. That was classic, _bravo VH1_.

When I found out that Criss kicked both Amelia and Kelly off of the show after finally realizing that they had been framing me all along, I was indifferent about it. I wasn't too sure if my emotions were legitimately happy or pissed off. I suppose I was still let down that he had to go through all that trouble instead of just taking my word over theirs in the first place. Maybe if he had listened me then I would still be with him?

It didn't matter anymore… I'd never see him again. I liked it that. I liked the fact that it was all over and done with… Although it would have been nice to rub it in his face a little. I guess maybe if I saw him just one last time then I could tell him how much of an idiot he was for letting me go but what would that change? Probably nothing.

Not much had changed in my life since the show besides the fact every time I went out of the house a few people would stare and point at me or whisper, "Wasn't she the crazy one?". At first it bothered me but now I was starting to get used it. Usually I just ignored them. Other times I played along, one time I even pretended to talk to myself. Hell, why not give people something to talk about? Let them think what they want about me. It didn't matter. My boss offered to give me my job back and I accepted. Life was pretty much ordinary again.

Having enough of seeing my own face on T.V. and the girls I could never get full revenge on, I decided to flip through my stack of accumulating mail on the kitchen table.

_Crap._

_Coupons._

_Crap._

_Bills._

_More Bills._

_Hmmm… _My eye brows raised as I noticed a business envelope addressed first class. Inside the letter read:

_Melissa,_

_On behalf of both Criss Angel and VH1 production management, I would like to personally inform you that there will a "Blurred Reality" Reunion show hosted by Sharon Osbourne. This will be aired live at the House of Blues in Las Vegas Nevada on October 5__th__ at 6pm. You MUST respond ASAP to this letter. Your airline ticket is being held for you in advance. Please, remember to take into consideration that you are contract bound to this date and if there is a necessary cancellation that needs to made you must give at least 48 hours notice. Attached below to this document are the following steps you need to take to receive and authorize your flight. _

"You're kidding me?" I muttered out loud as I folded up the letter.

_Hmmm… maybe I would get my chance to tell Criss off after all?_

* * *

My eyes focused themselves on the computer screen and I drew in a deep breath.

_Was that a female mullet? SERIOUSLY…_

_Next._

_Oh God, STILL MARRIED!_

_**NEXT!**_

Why was I even trying this damned dating site out again anyway? Maybe I should use a suedo name this time. Something simple… something less "unbelievable". My eyes rolled the moment I spotted Melissa's profile appear in my inbox.

_**THIS USER IS 99% COMPATIBLE**_

_Really, no shit fucking E-harmony! _I flicked off of the monitor and angrily exited out of the internet file.

Okay, so maybe I was done with the whole online dating thing. It wasn't getting anywhere with it anyway. My mind drifted off as I watched Hammie curl up on the computer desk next me.

"What do you say boy?" I muttered as I patted his head, his golden cat eyes starring back up me. "You agree too, don't you? I'm fucked… I should have never let her go."

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**NOTE: I HOPE EVERYONE LIKED THIS STORY! I HAD SOOOO MUCH FUN WRITING IT! (: THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE REVIEWED! I DID NOT EXPECT THIS STORY TO GET SO MANY AND HAVE SO MANY HITS OR BE FAVED AS MUCH AS IT HAS. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! **

**P.S. I WILL WRITE THE REUNION, DON'T WORRY! LOL! BUT, BEFORE I WRITE THE REUNION I NEED YOU ALL TO SEND ME SOME QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE FOR BOTH CRISS AND ANY OF THE PAST GIRLS ON THE SHOW... IT CAN BE ABOUT ANYTHING. SOMETHING I WROTE ABOUT, SOMETHING I DIDN'T. FEEL FREE TO SEND ME AS MANY QUESTIONS AS YOU LIKE. (: BE CREATIVE LOL! **

**Always, Deppendant**


	39. VH1 REUNION TAKE ONE

**Blurred Reality**

**Reunion Take One**

I had been fighting a ragging stress headache all day. Even my make-up artist made a sly comment about how "out of sorts" I looked when arrived backstage for the VH1 reunion. I think I got a grand total of 3 hours sleep and the more coffee I drank, the more my stomach began to turn over in anxiety. This was ridiculous. I should've just cancelled this fucking show last night but ONCE again my insane management team had talked me out of it. Oh well, it was only an hour long anyhow and canceling wasn't my style anyway. I'd stick to my commitment and get it over with. I'd face all 20 of those outlandish girls and… MAYBE just MAYBE somehow be able to block out Melissa's inevitable wrath.

The moment I was given queue to head out on stage I spotted an all too familiar face out of the corner of my eye. My heart thudded against my chest as I heard the audience roar and I felt my body jerk backward.

"Melissa?" I whispered.

Melissa spun around, her cloudy blue eyes appearing just as dull and as tired as mine… but at least for once in past 2 months I was seeing them again, instead of just envisioning them in my dreams.

Her eyebrows raised slightly and she shook her head rather condescendingly. "Criss." She muttered.

A stage crew member hustled between us once again reminding me it was time to arrive on stage and I brushed his hand off of my shoulder.

"Wait, Melissa…" I called in her direction, but it was too late. She was already gone.

Sharon Osbourne's brilliantly red hair somewhat reminded me of Amelia's and it made me shiver a bit every time she'd run her hand through it. I'd met Sharon before at a few Celebrity parties in Vegas. She was a very sweet woman and I absolutely fell in love with her accent. I was more than honored to be interviewed by her… just not exactly keen on her new hair style.

"So Criss, darling… you being the handsome, sexy man that you are… please tell me why you even agreed to do such a reality love show in the first place? It seems ridiculous to me! I mean, you'd think that woman would be dying to get a chance with you."

My cheeks reddened a bit as she jokingly ran her hand on my thigh and winked.

"Well, thank you for the complement. I think that sometimes some 'celebrities' can get too caught up in that whole lifestyle and glamour and I don't want to take advantage of any of my fans. I'm not out to break any hearts. I think that if you only base a relationship on outer looks then it's not going to develop into anything more than just that. My take on doing this show was to find something deeper and more meaningful."

Sharon smiled. "You are a catch, a sexy man with an even sexier mind! But unfortunately Criss had quite a journey trying to find a girl with the same criteria. Let's all take a look back on how things went in the very beginning of the season."

In the background behind us they rolled a video clip of the very first challenge I had the girls compete in. In the clip it showed all 20 of the girls arriving to the hotel, then the time I quizzed them all on how much all really knew about me and the time we all met up at Flight. It ended with my first mass elimination.

"Alright, let's have all 4 of those ladies head out here. I'd like everyone to met Samantha, Theresa, Mary and Jackie." Sharon introduced each of the girls as they walked out on stage and all took seats next to on the large couch that in the center of the stage. Jackie took a seat next Sharon who was sitting on a love seat which was separated from my couch by a glass table.

Samantha smiled in my direction and I opened my arms for an embrace. She accepted gracefully and whispered, "Nice to see you."

"You as well." I replied.

"So tell me girls, after watching the show. What is your personal take on the shocking decision that Criss has made?" Sharon questioned.

Theresa was the first to answer. "Stupid, utterly stupid. First of all, I understand that sometimes first impressions are the most important however, I feel that if you had given me some more time to prove myself maybe you wouldn't be alone right now."

The audience was divided and so was I.

"I agree, with Theresa," Mary cleared her throat. "but I think that Criss really does still have a connection with Melissa and personally I feel like they need to make amends. She's a sweet girl."

"Criss do you feel like maybe you might have been wrong letting these girls go so early in the show?"

I shrugged and apologetically glanced them over. "No, I don't. I think they are all great in their own ways. I just don't see it working out between any of us. I know that they all will go on in their lives and lead very successful relationships. That much I do know."

Sharon smiled. "Do you agree with Mary, do you feel like maybe there is something left between you and Melissa?"

I paused my stomach growing anxious again. "That I'm not too certain of… I hope that Melissa and I can work through our differences and maybe one day start over. That would be ideal… starting over…"

Next Sharon called out Adrianna, Tamera and Rachel to the stage and drilled them with hilarious questions about the "casino cash out fight" which had lead to yet another elimination. To my surprise all of the those girls were civil with one another and with me. Adriana actually kissed my cheek and I think Tamera was developing her crush on Rachel…. But that was just too awkward…

Shauna was a WHOLE entire different story. I literally wanted to crawl my back to my dressing room during that interview. That girl had ALWAYS given me the creeps for some reason and still as she sat there next to me I swore she was about ready to ask me another fucking rock band question.

Everything in the Reunion seemed to be running fairly smoothly until Sharon got down to the last 5 girls. The moment Emily walked out on stage I noticed the mood in the room shift drastically.

"Hey…" I nearly whispered, holding my arms out for a hug but instead she just folded her arms against her chest.

"Hey."

Sharon eased the tension by moving right along to her first question. "Hello Emily, nice to meet you. You look lovely."

"You too, I like the yellow." I attempted to complement her dress but she snubbed me off again.

"Thank you SHARON, nice to meet you as well. Do you mind if I sit next you instead?" She stood up and made her way over to Sharon's loveseat.

_You've got be kidding me. Seriously… what in the hell did I do piss her off so bad?_

"Look, Emily… I'm sorry… for whatever happened…" I went to begin but she cut me off.

"I think it's bullshit Criss, you never even gave me any time to explain myself over that damned lie detector! I'm not on drugs. I've been clean and sober for over a year." She yelled.

I remained silent for what seemed to be an eternity. "Why didn't you tell me that before elimination? You had ample time to explain that to me, we all went out to the club…"

Emily shook her head rather dramatically. "You were too busy with Lisa and Melissa."

Sharon went to say something but I interrupted. "I'm sorry…" I muttered as I watched Emily's eyes well up with tears. "If I would have known…"

"Yeah… you missed out." Emily sniffed sadly.

"Would you at least come and sit next to me? I feel like enough of an asshole as it is right now…" I nearly begged.

Emily nodded and sluggishly headed back my way.

_Shit, this was only going to get worse wasn't it?_

Why didn't I give my contracted amount of emergency notice and say that I "suddenly" had another "mental breakdown" and had to be locked up for good this time? I should have never stepped on that damned flight and landed at this forsaken reunion show in the first place. This was by far the stupidest idea I had ever made in my life and seeing Criss for that split second only confirmed it even more. I had OFFICALLY lost my marbles. All it took was for him to simply mutter my name and I was already emotionally on edge. I kept on replaying the scenario over and over in my mind. I would strut on that stage, tail between my legs, tears in my eyes and blurt out something ridiculous, something I'd regret… something like _I love you, how could you do this to me? _I knew it. I always somehow made myself out to look like the weak person, to look desperate.

A crew member knocked on my dressing room door and informed me that I was to follow him to the side of the stage. My nerves pumped acid as I hustled behind the tall African American man. Never in my life had I been on live T.V. in front of an audience and suddenly it felt as though I could vomit. The audience clapped loudly and I heard someone yell out my name. Criss glanced towards the wing of the stage I felt my knees buckle.

"Go on sweetie, it's okay." The stage crewman assured me, giving my hand a small squeeze.

I knew Sharon must has have been introducing me to the audience but for some reason my ears weren't registering her words correctly. Instead, I kept on trying to focus on not tripping over my own high heels and the obnoxious hole Criss was staring in my direction.

Then almost as if reality had dealt a blow to my chest I remembered… _I really hated being there. I didn't want to be at that Reunion Show, in fact the only fucking reason I was at that Reunion Show was all because of one ignorant being. Criss Angel. And Criss Angel wasn't going to get the satisfaction of me being a coward._

The moment I reached the head of the couch Criss was seated at I forcefully drew my hand back and closed my eyes.

_I wasn't going to be coward anymore but I still didn't want to see the look on his face after I slapped him._

**NOTE: I WILL BE POSTING MORE... DON'T WORRY! (: LOL!**


	40. VH1 REUNION TAKE TWO&END

**Blurred Reality**

**Reunion Take Two/END**

My eyes reluctantly opened the moment I heard Criss let out a small wince. Rather remorsefully I muttered, "I-I'm sorry…"

_No, I wasn't really sorry. I just didn't like seeing a person in pain… and I couldn't believe I had just actually followed through with slapping him._

Three body guards corralled along the front edge of the stage waiting for Criss's signal to reprimand me but instead he just sat there with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"No, it's okay… don't apologize Melissa. I deserved it."

My lips instantly formed a half smile and I felt my nerves begin smooth out. "You did. Do you want another?"

Sharon took that as her queue to butt in. "Hey, now. Maybe you should come sit over here next me darling?"

Criss shook his head, "She's fine next to me Sharon… and Melissa, you can slap me as many times as you feel necessary. I'll humbly accept them all."

My eyes lazed back towards his body guards before I took a seat on the further end of the couch that he was sitting at. "I think I'm done."

There was a long pause between us before Sharon broke the silence.

"So Melissa, the audience and I have a few questions to ask both you and Criss if you don't mind?"

I shrugged. "That's fine… go ahead. I'm sorry for the way I started things off."

"Oh, no it's understandable, sometimes emotions can get the best us…" Sharon glanced at me and then at Criss who had his arms tightly folded against his chest.

"This first question is to Melissa, I think all of really have got to know… did you really ever have any intentions of harming any of the other girls in the house?"

I laughed out loud. "No. I never had any kind of outrageous serial killer type plans like they all said I did. That crap was just was ludicrous. Although, yes… at times I can't lie there were days I really did want to beat the hell out of the some of them, but I think we all felt like that after being with one another so long."

Sharon chuckled, "I understand completely. Speaking of, how do you feel about Kelly and Amelia's plan to sabotage the connection that was forming between you and Criss, do you think that maybe Kelly had originated that plan all along to be your friend in the beginning in order to get more information from you?"

I shook my head, "No, I don't think that was the case. Honestly I don't think that Kelly's smart enough to originate plans herself. That whole situation boggles my mind. I've always disliked cheaters and to me that's what they both they are, two cheaters and liars who were trying to cut corners in order to win a _game. _I wasn't there to win a _game. _I was there to hopefully fall in love that's what I feel was the difference between me and the 19 other girls on the show." I explained.

Criss nodded his head out of the corned of my eye and I ignored him.

"Did you find love?" Sharon asked curiously.

I shrugged. "I thought I did."

"How about you Criss, I know you didn't end up choosing any girl in the end but do you think that if you could have done it differently that you would have chosen Melissa?" Sharon asked.

Criss uncrossed his leg that was resting on his knee and drew in a deep breath. "Do it differently… no. I think that everything happens for one reason or another but I do wish that it wouldn't have turned out like this."

"Alright, we're going to turn the questions over to the audience members now and this one comes from Rain, go ahead and stand up, hun."

Criss and I glanced over into the audience and a middle aged women in glasses was standing up holding onto a microphone.

"This is for Criss, ummm… I just wanted to know, how come when Melissa was eliminated you didn't personally walk up to her and explain to her why she was leaving?"

I glanced back at Criss and narrowed my eyebrows. "Good question Rain, I've been dying to know myself!"

"That is a very good question… the reason why I decided to not tell you face to face Melissa is because I felt as though if I did I wouldn't be able to let you go. Simple as that. Looking back at that poor decision I probably should have gone with my gut and confronted you because then maybe… we wouldn't be in the situation we are in now." Criss' eyes sadly leveled mine and I felt my heart ping against my chest.

"Hmmm…. Maybe."

"This next question is from Desi." Sharon signaled our attention back towards the audience again.

"This is for Criss again, what does you family think of your decision now that they've watched the show?"

Criss hesitated a bit. "Actually, I want to take a moment right now to thank them because they are all so very supportive of everything that I do. Right now, my mom in particular is very disappointed that she got the wrong impression of Melissa and she told me that she wanted to personally apologize for her behavior. So," Criss paused and glanced at my end of the couch. "after the show my mom and I actually planned on taking Melissa out for dinner… that is if she'd be willing to join us…"

My head snapped upright at his words and I heard the audience cheer.

"Are you serious?" I questioned with a look of shock.

"Oh, would you just say yes already!" Sharon winked.

"Ok, I'll go." I nodded. "but only because I like your mom."

* * *

I had told Melissa to meet me at my hotel room at 8pm. So far everything was going just as I had planned. _Thank God._ The last thing I needed was for something else to go wrong. The sound of the door bell interrupted my minor hair adjusted and I could feel my heart begin to race as I reached for the doorknob.

_Damn, she was gorgeous._

"Hey, I'm sorry I'm a bit late. There was this crazy fan of yours outside in the lobby… I think she was trying to follow me up here." Melissa sighed, looking less than thrilled.

I half smiled. "Huh, was she at least hot?"

"You WOULD ask me that, I think she was 12 years old." She finally let out a laugh as I let her inside.

"You look really amazing tonight." I complimented trying not to stare at her obvious features that were being hugged elegantly in a casual cocktail dress.

"Thanks. Sorry, I wasn't too sure where you had in mind, I hope this is alright?" She questioned after taking note of my jeans.

"It's great… I mean… yeah, it's fine." I swallowed back my devious thoughts. "I'm just waiting for my mom to get back to me and then we can head out. She said she was waiting for Costa to call her back about something important."

Melissa slowly nodded and took a seat on my couch with Hammie trailing close behind her heels.

"Do you want something to drink while we wait?" I asked.

"Anything that contains alcohol would be great." She shot me messed up look and I nodded. "Want some wine or is that too much like a date?"

She laughed. "It has alcohol… I guess it's okay."

"Hey, if you didn't want to come here then you should have told me that straight up." I pointed out as I headed into the kitchen area.

I heard Melissa's heels click on the floor and follow behind me. "It's not that I don't want to be here, Criss."

"Then what is it?" I questioned seriously as I reached in the cabinet for a bottle of wine.

"It's just that I never should have left." She muttered.

I turned around not realizing just how close she was behind me and set the wine bottle on the counter top.

"No, you shouldn't have." I replied as I took her hands into mine.

Her fingers gently squeezed against the palm of my hand and saw her eyes close for a moment.

_I couldn't take it anymore. _

_I didn't care if she never spoke to me again._

_I had to do it, just at least one last time…._

With her eyes still shut I reached my hand behind her head and in one swift motion brought her body closer to mine. My lips found hers in an instant and the moment I heard her softly moan I felt my nerves release. Melissa's hand let go of mine and I felt her relocate it to the middle of my of my back. Her nails dug in through my shirt and a small shiver ran through my spine. Right as her lips were about to venture their way towards my neck my cell phone blared off in my back pocket.

_Seriously… why now? WHY?_

Melissa hesitantly pulled away from me, her eyes begging me to ignore the phone call but I knew it was probably my mom.

_Shit… that's right…. __**My mom**__. _

_Fuck. _

_Once again. Why now?_

"Hello?" I answered roughly as I watched Melissa walk back towards the abandoned wine bottle and attempt to tug off the cork.

"Christopher, I'm so sorry. Costa said that he needs my help tonight trying to get something together for your Aunts birthday party tomorrow, is there anyway I can reschedule?" My mom questioned apologetically.

My eyes nearly bugged out of my skull.

_God, must have heard my prayer._

* * *

_Stupid cork. Really, wine sounded so good right now. Maybe more like a WHOLE bottle of wine. _My eyes glanced back over at Criss. _Yeah, totally, a WHOLE bottle. I was so confused. The only reason why I was there was because of Criss' mom… right? RIGHT_. _That was it. I was there to listen to his mom apologize and move on. The whole make out session that just happened was a fluke…_

I sighed still trying to gnaw off the cork with my teeth.

Criss hung up his cell phone and shook his head at me. "Give me that." He laughed taking the wine bottle from me. "I do have a corkscrew you know."

"Hey, desperate times… desperate measures." I chuckled as I watched him easily pop the top off.

"Oh, that was my mom on the phone by the way. She said that she's not going to be able to make it tonight. She said that she's planning my Aunt's birthday party with Costa and that she'd be more than happy to reschedule."

My mind lulled for a moment over the information. "Really? Reschedule?"

Criss nodded pulling me closer towards me.

_Melissa, you must remain strong, don't give in. You are supposed to be mad… BE MAD. _

"Are you sure this wasn't all just part of the plan?" I asked curiously.

Criss shook his head. "No, of course not. You can call her yourself."

"Okay… I just never know with you…" I replied with a stern look on my face.

Criss drew in a deep breath. "To be honest with you, there was a plan and yes, my mom was part of it. I knew that you would probably never speak to me again or even slightly agree to go out on another date with me so that I could try to make things up to you so I asked my mom if she'd help me out and she gladly agreed after seeing what all happened on the show. But no, neither my mom nor I planned out that it would end up just the two of us alone here tonight… I'm sorry if it's awkward now."

_My conscience disintegrated and suddenly there was no longer a voice inside of my head telling me how I should feel anymore…_

"You did that just so you could get a chance to try to apologize to me?" I smiled crookedly.

He nodded rather shyly.

"That's really sweet Criss but…" I paused for a moment debating how much information I should admit. "I probably would have said yes even if your mom wasn't involved."

Criss' eyes sparkled my way. "Really?"

"Really."

The next thing I knew I had my body entangled against his and my heart finally felt whole again. Criss's lips nibbled against my earlobe as he lifted me onto the kitchen counter, the open wine bottle nearly tipping over onto the floor.

"Melissa," Criss began between passionate kisses, his hands resting on my bare knees.

"Yes?" I nearly moaned.

"I never officially asked you… will you continue to stay here and live in my blurred reality?" He smirked.

I nodded with a giggled as my arms tightened against his waist. "Forever."

"Mmmm, good… I love you." Criss replied sweetly as his hand brushed against my cheek.

My heart skipped and it took all I had to control my eyes from tearing. "I love you too."

**

* * *

****You Have 1 New Match/1 Unread Message.**

My eyes rolled. Seriously… I thought I had deleted this damned thing but for some reason Eharmony was still sending me bills in the mail.

**New Message from Lissa75**

My eyebrow raised…

**Hey babe, HOPEFULLY you are on here reading this to DELETE your account! LOL! I love you! And you were right… "Sometimes you need to read between the lines in order to find out what is real and what is a lie". What do you say, next time we do an Eharmony commercial instead of a reality show? Hahahaha!**

**XOXOXO Love, Melissa**

**-END-**

**THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR READING, REVIEWING AND POLL VOTING FOR THIS STORY! I HAD A BLAST WRITING IT! **

**Always**

**Deppendant**


	41. NOTE

**This is just a question out of sheer curiosity… I had a lot of a fun writing Blurred Reality and I was wondering if anyone was interested in me writing a sequel to it? If so please review. Thanks!**

**Always,**

**Deppendant**


	42. SEQUEL IS POSTED!

**NOTE: WOW! I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW FAST EVERYONE REVIEWED FOR A SEQUEL! THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES FOR READING AND REVIEWING THIS STORY! THERE IS NOW A SEQUEL POSTED ENTITLED "BETWEEN THE LINES". HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY!**

**ALWAYS,**

**DEPPDEPENDANT**


	43. STEALING MY WORK

**VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:** It has been brought to my attention recently that my Criss Angel stories are being posted on both personal sites and largely based fanfiction sites without my knowledge or consent without first doing so. Let me first start off by saying thank you for enjoying them so much that you'd want to use them as your own or copy them for further use. I would be more than happy to allow you use of them if asked and if proper props were given in my name. However, I it took me YEARS to write these stories and a lot of thought and creativity. I WILL NOT tolerate plagiarism of any kind! I take my writing very seriously (even my fanfiction). To me its pointless to simply go about and "copy-paste" someone else's hard work and claim it as your own! Thank you so much to my fans on this site who have taken the time and effort to point out to me what has been done! My Lucky 13 story is being posted on Mibba under the SN: Miss Kat. If you have a Mibba account please be aware of this person... it's not me! Thank you so much and as always thank you for reading!

-Deppdependant-


End file.
